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Arizona Businesses: Cyberattack Risks & How to Protect Yourself #shorts
Jul 31, 2025
Arizona businesses face a growing threat from costly cyberattacks and ransomware. Expert Mark Lantz negotiates with cybercriminals who are holding data hostage, demanding millions. Can businesses protect themselves before it's too late? #cybersecurity #ransomware #cyberattack #databreach #infosec
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Annie Seiden is the president of the
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Arizona Chamber of Commerce, so he knows
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firsthand the threat businesses face
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when it comes to cyber attacks.
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Cyber attacks in Arizona have been
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costing hundreds and hundreds of
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millions of dollars every single year.
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And a lot of times you don't know when
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those costs will stop.
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Arizona currently ranks eighth in the
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country in cyber crimes with school
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districts, hospitals, large and small
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businesses targeted. One of the biggest
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challenges companies face right now is
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from ransomware, which cyber criminals
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use to gain access and encrypt someone's
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system so it's no longer usable. Cyber
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criminals will then try to extort
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payment from their victims to release
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the data.
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With modern ransomware, you've got a lot
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of different groups.
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Mark Lance is a ransomware negotiator
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with Guidepoint Security in Virginia.
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They're holding systems hostage. They're
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holding information hostage. They're,
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you know, attempting to extort people in
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order to monetize their efforts.
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Lance tells us businesses hit with
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ransomware will hire him to step in and
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negotiate with the cyber criminals to
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work out the payment and terms to set
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their systems free. He says most company
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officials have no idea what to do when
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they're attacked.
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We've worked hundreds of cases where
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we're working on behalf of these
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victims. And what we bring is uh you
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know the ability to set expectations on
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what's going to transpire but also
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educate them on what the is is
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potentially going on situationally.
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They're trying to create operational
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disturbances that will prevent you from
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being able to continue to run it as a
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business where you need to pay them to
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get access back to these systems.
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According to Lance, most ransomware
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attacks come from cyber criminals in
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Eastern Europe with a handful of gangs
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working from the UK, South America, and
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the US. Ransom demands can range from a
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few thousand dollars to several million.
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One cyber criminal asked for 700
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million.
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These are extremely lucrative operations
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for them where they're making millions
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and in some cases even billions of
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dollars on an annual basis. But even
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better advice is for businesses to make
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sure they have a strong security system
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in place to prevent hackers from getting
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in.
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We have seen businesses that have had to
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to close their door or shutter their
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business uh because of the impacts of
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ransomware.
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A lot of these ransomware attacks we
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never hear about because companies don't
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exactly want them made public. Cyber
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experts tell me the better security
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businesses put in place along with
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better training of employees to keep
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them from clicking on links they're not
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supposed to will greatly reduce their
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chances of being hit with ransomware.
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Live in the newsroom, Jason Barry for
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Arizona's family.
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