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Today, data breaches have become something common in the business world, and cybercriminals are always looking for ways to circumvent the current security tools. As a result, new security issues arise as soon as the current ones are resolved.
Considering the damaging effect that a data breach can have on the growth of your business, you have no other choice but to keep up with these current trends. As long as you can arm yourself with the right information, beating these threats becomes easy.
Here are a few facts about the current cybersecurity landscape that you ought to know:
SMBs Are Highly Targeted By Cyber Criminals
Owners of SMBs often ignore cybersecurity best practices. Often, their excuse is that they don’t have data that is valuable enough for hackers. While others might not have all the necessary information on how to keep their business secure, most struggle to set a healthy cybersecurity budget amidst constrained resources. Such excuses from these business owners make it easy for hackers to target small and medium-sized businesses. In fact, nearly 70% of cyber-attacks target SMBs.
Identity Theft Is A Significant After Effect Of Data Breaches
Hackers know the value of personal data. As a result, they work tirelessly to circumvent businesses’ security landscapes to gain access to this data. In fact, nearly 60 million Americans have already been a victim of identity theft. This data can include mobile phone numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, and even pins. Hackers can use the data they collect to gain access to loans (for credit card numbers and pins), open accounts under the user’s names, or even gain further access to other corporate accounts that the victims have, among other effects. The onus is upon your business to protect such sensitive data by any means necessary.
Third-Party Apps Are Cheap But Dangerous
For increased efficiency, most businesses have started embracing BYOD policies, but there is a threat in how employees install apps on their devices. Typically, the native app stores on the employees’ phones are the safest places to source apps. Google, Apple, and Microsoft- among other app store regulators- tend to have strict policies on what apps make it on to their stores.
Sadly for hackers, these restrictions make it tough for them to host their apps on these app stores. In turn, they host then on third-party apps while using low prices and sneaky advertising to get people to download them. Since the apps might come laden with malware, the chances are the malware will find its way into your corporate systems. The trick is to have your IT department educate employees on such security issues, enforce strong BYOD policies, and continue fighting shadow IT.
The Threat the Lies In IoT Devices
As the business world ushers in IoT devices to make work easier, it also ushers in a couple of security threats. While they are effective in what they do, some of these devices are typically weak security-wise. Even worse, two-fifth of IT leaders might not take IoT security as seriously as it ought to be taken. For you to evade the risks, you ought to purchase the devices from manufacturers that take IoT security seriously as well as make timely updates to the devices.
Human Error Is A Major Security Threat For Business
Human error accounts for 95% of security incidents. For instance, an employee might forget not to use public Wi-Fi without a VPN. In other cases, employees might actually not be aware of whatever is needed of them security-wise. Ideally, the first step to combating human error would be to spread security awareness among employees. Next, ensure that you set up enough policies and establish security procedures that limit the chances of human error.
Data Breach Costs Are Rising
More businesses, both small and large, are starting to embrace moving their workload to the cloud. They can get to reduce costs, enjoy increased operational efficiency, launch business applications more easily, and access corporate data from anywhere. As businesses continue to migrate their data to the cloud, the cost of losing such data to a cyber-attack also rises. By 2020, the average data breach’s cost is anticipated to exceed $150 million.
Businesses Have Been Ignoring Incidence Response Plans
While most businesses tend to work on preventing cyber threats, most don’t prepare themselves on how to react when the issues arise. In fact, 77% of businesses do not have proper incident response plans. Remember, every second counts when a data breach occurs. Employees and top IT leaders need to know who needs to do what to stop cyber threats from causing further harm. Also, the incident report plans can help you reduce the PR nightmare that comes with an attack.
It Takes More Than Six Months To Discover A Data Breach
In this time, cybercriminals might have collected a lot of information or caused a lot of harm to your business. Given that the average number of days to contain a discovered data breach is 69 days, it is essential for businesses to avoid breaches in the first place. Other than purchasing the necessary security tools, businesses should also focus on proactively surveying the cybersecurity world for threats that might face them in the future.
Insider Threats Are Still A Silent Threat
Insider threats continue to be a bother in the business world. While IT leaders are busy protecting their data from external threats, they ignore the threats that lie internally. The threats can arise from an unaware employee, a disgruntled one, or even criminals working in the façade of employees. Ideally, your business needs to implement strong security policies and access controls, monitor corporate systems for anomalies, and do background checks on employees before hiring them.
Your business needs to learn how to co-exist with all these threats. Creating a healthy security posture for your business requires you to spread security awareness in your workforce, invest in the right tools, monitor your IT assets, and follow current security trends. Focus on these aspects to grow your business securely.
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