Cybercrime surge exacting heavy toll

Cyberattacks are getting more frequent and more expensive.

An “unprecedented surge” in cyberattacks saw the average business trying to fend off a record 1,876 attack attempts a week in the third quarter, according to Check Point Software. Ransomware, meanwhile, is getting more costly. Chainalysis says the median ransom payment has skyrocketed from $200,000 in 2023 to $1.5 million this year.

Even after victims get their systems back online, the aftereffects and costs linger. Newsday has reported that Suffolk County spent $25 million recovering from a 2022 attack, much of it in long-lasting remediation costs. And Henry Schein — Long Island’s biggest public company by revenue — earlier this month said some customers haven’t come back one year after the health products distributor was hit by a devastating cyberattack, resulting in a decrease in sales.

Hard lesson

Chegg, a Wall Street darling during the pandemic when it traded as high as $115 a share, has seen its stock crash to under $2 and has laid off 21% of its staff. The online provider of homework assistance and textbooks said “technology shifts and generative AI have created significant headwinds” that have caused revenue to plummet as students cancel subscriptions and turn to free AI chatbots for homework help.

Yelp buys car-services site

Reviews aggregator Yelp acquired RepairPal, a motor vehicle services website that connects consumers with automobile mechanics and repair shops near them. Yelp says it paid $80 million in cash for RepairPal, which, like Yelp, offers reviews of 1-5 stars from consumers who visited the repair sites. San Francisco-based Yelp expects the deal to close by the end of the year.

Robocar maker fined over crash report

Self-driving car developer and General Motors subsidiary Cruise admitted to withholding key details “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence” a federal investigation about a 2023 crash that injured a pedestrian, according to the Justice Department. Cruise will pay $500,000 to resolve the charges and must implement a safety compliance program and submit annual compliance reports to the Justice Department. — THE WASHINGTON POST