businessinfomag.uk magazine 10 CYBERSECURITY Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) is on the rise, dramatically lowering entry barriers for cyber actors to launch attacks on businesses. With the evolution of generative AI, and fuelled by both organised and state-sponsored criminal groups, the market has grown into a billionpound industry. With a lower barrier of entry, more threats of varying sophistication are popping up. Bigger organisations with larger cybersecurity teams can deal with these new threats, but SMEs are more susceptible to being caught out or targeted by dangerous cyber actors looking for a quick pay-out. More support is needed for those with smaller profiles and limited resources, lest one ransomware assault puts them out of business entirely. Mark Appleton, Chief Customer Officer at ALSO Cloud UK, believes that SMEs are at greater risk from RaaS attacks due to a more limited, exploitable security profile. “Whilst business leaders might think their smaller organisations are safe as they have fewer valuable targets, in reality attackers understand that a smaller business The rise of RaaS – How Copilot can safeguard SMEs from the growing storm of AI-boosted cyberattacks is more likely to pay an attacker to leave them alone and has a weaker security posture to exploit. You can pay in the hope that your attacker quickly moves on, but this just signals that you’re ready to pay over and over for each successful ransomware attempt.” On a more hopeful note, Appleton adds that whilst generative AI may be a security problem, copilot solutions powered by similar technology hold the solution. “With the power that Copilot is giving RaaS, there is an equal if not greater opposing solution to prevent it. Tools are already available in the hands of MSPs and they just require the right expert to integrate them into SME security ecosystems. “Security training does not necessarily require an additional dozen hoops to jump through to coordinate successfully. In entrusting SME security to trusted security partners – always on hand to help and available via partnerships with cloud marketplaces – SMEs can rely on expert help at the click of a button. This helps the SME market self-insure. Rather than investing millions of pounds in software to create their own robust security profile, the software to build a partner ecosystem is there via MSP and vendor partnerships. “Additionally, a unified response to cybersecurity can be achieved by the sum of many partnerships, available once again through tailored vendor support. MSPs can fill the gaps in both knowledge and resources that SMEs don’t have, bringing access to training and lowering the barrier to entry for Generative AI and the rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service pose a growing problem for SMEs. However, AI copilot tools can provide much needed support, says ALSO Cloud UK protecting a smaller business.” Appleton concludes: “Resources are there to combat the rise in ransomware and, with the development and integration of Copilot tools, suddenly SMEs have an additional pair of hands in their security team. Whilst generative AI undoubtedly has launched a new wave of ransomware threats, it holds the answer to defending against those same attacks as well, going one step further in being able to more easily and proactively prevent crippling cyberattacks before they can occur. Finding the right expert that has all the knowledge and tools in one place is the first step for any SME looking to safeguard their operations and survive the current security landscape.” ALSO Cloud UK is part of ALSO, a leading technology provider for the ICT industry. In 2023, net sales of the Swiss-based company, which employs about 4,000 people and is active in 144 countries, amounted to 11.1 billion euros. The ALSO ecosystem offers 135,000 resellers hardware, software and IT services from more than 800 vendors in over 1,540 product categories, from provision to refurbishment. ALSO has three business units: the Supply division provides hardware and software on a transactional basis; the Solutions division supports customers in the development of customised IT solutions and ready-to-use IoT applications; and the Service division focuses on subscription-based cloud offerings for software and hardware, including platforms for cybersecurity, IoT, virtualisation and AI. www.also.com
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