The 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report has some hard news about the realities of cybersecurity.

The Cold, Hard Numbers

• Bottom Line Impact: The median ransomware payment is now $115,000
• Your Odds: 88% of mid-market breaches now involve ransomware (vs. 39% for large enterprises)
• The Target Shift: Attackers are moving downstream from large enterprises to mid-market companies with fewer defenses

The New Financial Reality

Ransomware has become the dominant threat to mid-market businesses, appearing in 88% of breaches—more than double the rate seen in large enterprises. The typical ransom payment has settled around $115,000, but that's just the beginning of your financial exposure.

The real costs emerge in business interruption. When systems go offline, revenue stops while expenses continue. Customer trust erodes. Emergency IT expenditures pile up. These cascading financial impacts often dwarf the ransom itself, with recovery typically taking weeks.

What's particularly concerning is that cyber insurance is becoming less dependable. Premiums have jumped 30-50% for mid-market companies, while carriers are adding more exclusions and requiring specific security controls before writing policies. In many cases, the coverage you thought you had may not be there when you need it most.

Where Your Money Matters Most

The report reveals three clear investment priorities with substantial financial returns:

Multi-factor authentication delivers immediate risk reduction. Credential theft remains at the core of most breach chains, with 54% of ransomware victims having their credentials available on the dark web before the attack. Implementing MFA across your organization—especially for remotely accessible email, admin, and financial systems—provides outsized protection against the most common attack vector.

Quick Win: Tell your IT teams to use passkeys and password-less authentication. Google does it internally, and they’ve effectively killed phishing.

Robust backup and recovery capabilities eliminate ransom leverage. Organizations that can quickly restore from secure backups avoid the ransom dilemma. The 64% of victims who refused to pay ransoms this year could do so largely because they had viable recovery options. This isn't just about having backups—it's about testing recovery procedures regularly to ensure they work when needed. Extortion is still a risk, but at least you can keep operating.

Quick Win: Ask your IT teams if your backups can be overwritten and how long they last. Attacker will overwrite backups if they’re able.

Third-party risk management prevents catastrophic supply chain failures. The doubling of third-party involvement in breaches (now 30%) reveals a blind spot in traditional risk assessments. Your organization faces substantial business interruption and data theft risk when critical vendors experience security incidents. This requires a new approach to vendor management that incorporates security posture alongside traditional metrics.

Quick Win: Ask your vendors what security measures they’re taking to protect access to your systems or your data.

What This Means For Financial Leaders

Your role in managing cyber risk extends well beyond approving security budgets. Financial controls are now cybersecurity controls. Payment verification procedures are your first line of defense against the $6.3 billion lost to business email compromise last year. Your vendor contracts need security requirements with meaningful remedies if those obligations aren't met.

The standards for reasonable care are evolving rapidly. Boards are asking tougher questions about cyber readiness. Lenders are factoring security posture into credit decisions. Business partners are requiring security attestations before sharing data or integrating systems. M&A due diligence now scrutinizes security capabilities as closely as financial statements.

Taking Action

Start by asking your IT leadership one simple question: "If we were hit with ransomware tomorrow, how quickly could we recover our critical business functions?" Their answer will tell you volumes about your current risk exposure.

Next, examine your cyber insurance policy with the same rigor you'd apply to any other financial instrument. Understand the coverage limits, exclusions, and required controls. Many policies now exclude the very scenarios most likely to affect mid-market companies.

Finally, implement verification protocols for all payment changes, regardless of urgency or the seniority of the requestor. The most successful financial attacks leverage psychological pressure to bypass normal controls—your team needs clear procedures that apply universally.

Key Takeaways

• Mid-market companies are now prime targets, with 88% of breaches involving ransomware
• Business interruption costs far exceed direct breach expenses
• Basic security measures—MFA, robust backups, and payment verification—deliver the highest financial returns
• Cyber insurance is becoming more expensive and less comprehensive
• Your financial team needs clear protocols that withstand social engineering pressure

The 2025 DBIR makes one thing abundantly clear: cybersecurity isn't a technical problem with financial implications—it's a financial problem that requires technical and personnel solutions. By viewing it through this lens, you can make targeted investments that measurably reduce your organization's financial exposure in today's threat landscape.

Where to Put Your Money

Three high-ROI areas based on this year's data:

1. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication Everywhere

• Cost: $5-15 per user per month
• Benefit: Blocks most automated attacks (but not targeted attacks)
• Payback: Immediate reduction in most common attack vector
• The Extra Mile: Use passkeys or passwordless (phishing-resistant) authentication

2. Improve Backup and Recovery

• Cost: $50-100 per system per year for immutable backups
• Benefit: Ability to recover without paying ransom
• Payback: Full protection against an 88% likely attack scenario

3. Train Your Financial Team on Payment Changes and Verification

• Cost: A few hours of training time
• Benefit: Protection against the $6.3 billion lost to business email compromise
• Payback: One prevented fraud attempt covers the entire program

What You Can Do Today

1. Ask your IT team: "If we were hit with ransomware tomorrow, how quickly could we recover?" (If the answer involves more than 24 hours, you have work to do)
2. Check your cyber insurance policy for exclusions and coverage limits
3. Implement payment verification protocols for all wire transfers, regardless of urgency or seniority of requestor

Don't let the technical jargon discourage you from taking action. Your role in managing this financial risk is crucial, and the report makes it clear: mid-market companies are now squarely in the crosshairs. Start a cyber risk assessment today.

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