Unplanned downtime is a significant issue for organizations, with estimates indicating that Global 2000 companies lose an average of $200 million annually due to these disruptions. The consequences of downtime extend beyond financial loss; it can undermine customer trust, reduce productivity, and lead to potential legal or privacy concerns.
In 2024, a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, resulted in the largest health data breach in U.S. history, affecting approximately 190 million individuals and causing extensive outages for medical groups. Another ransomware incident in the same year targeted CDK Global, a software provider for nearly 15,000 auto dealerships in North America, leading to losses estimated at $1 billion over a three-week disruption.
As businesses navigate these risks, managing downtime has become increasingly challenging. The interconnected nature of organizations, coupled with the rapid adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence, is widening the attack surface and exposing new vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks are evolving; the emergence of AI-driven malware and malware-as-a-service platforms is making these threats more sophisticated and damaging.
To address these challenges, companies are urged to adopt a proactive approach to security and resilience. Chris Millington, a global cyber resilience expert at Hitachi Vantara, emphasizes the need for a shift from traditional reactive strategies, which have served well for the last couple of decades, to more preventative measures. By leveraging intelligence to enhance system resilience, organizations can better prepare for potential disruptions.
The focus on proactive risk management and a transition towards robust security frameworks may be crucial as organizations seek to mitigate the impact of these types of incidents in the future.
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/09/1123083/adapting-to-new-threats-with-proactive-risk-management/