A Cyber Attack Is In Your Future
The biggest misconception in the world of cyber security is that companies who take timely precautions are safe from cyber security attacks. The sad reality is that cyber security attacks aren’t a one-time thing. They aren’t something that you can prevent once and guard yourself from forever.
Research by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) shows that nearly 74% of small business and 43% of large businesses in the UK (more than 2000 organizations) experienced a cyber attack in the 2016-2018 period. 34 of these were high-risk attacks (C2) and 76 low-to-moderate risk attacks (C3). Some of the large companies (even those with state-of-the-art cyber security practices) experienced on average one cyber attack per month, learning that no one is safe from hackers.
The truth is that cyber attacks have ceased being an “if.” It is now a matter of “when,” “where” and “how.”
Recognizing the need for better security
Cyber security attacks compromise the safety and privacy of valuable company data by making it accessible to the wrong people. Research by the NCSC shows that the cost of an average, small-scale cyber attack costs less than £9,620. With hacking becoming so inexpensive and with advanced hacking software and new-age techniques available to hackers, who knows what sort of damage they may do to an organization?
This is something organizations should acknowledge and prepare themselves for. With IoT technologies becoming more common in workspaces, there is increased scope for company-wide infiltration and an increased organizational vulnerability to cyber attacks.
A case of company-wide culpability
The biggest problem that hinders organizations from setting in place anti-hacking security measures is the misconception that cyber security attacks are solely an IT problem.
The truth is that cyber security attacks are an organization-wide responsibility. Hackers hack into an organization’s weakest link. This weak link could be anything from the company’s marketing emailers to holes in website security to the lack of security from supply chain partners.
If organizations wish to tackle cyber security concerns successfully, they need to recognize and accept that it is a company-wide responsibility.
Cyber security predictions for 2019
Cyber attacks in the UK are predicted to rise. Here are some predictions experts have made for 2019:
- Increase in corporate espionage and cyber crime
- Greater number of single-factor password thefts and security breaches
- Increased risk of shadow IT systems
- More number of DDoS attacks
- Growing C- Suite security risk
What organizations can do to protect themselves?
Whether you’re working alone or seeking the services of IT support in London, you need to ramp-up cyber security at your workplace. You can do this in the following ways:
• Educate employees
The only way you can ensure pan-organizational cyber security is if your employees actively implement the action plans you send their way. If they must do this, they need to be educated about cyber security, the attacks that they may experience and what they can do to prevent this from happening.
• Structure your data
The most-important thing to do is for you to identify what data is critical for your organisation. That way you can re-structure data and add additional levels of protection to data you feel may be the most vulnerable to attack. This exercise will also keep you informed about the data you have in your databases and will help you identify if there is any data theft.
• Draft a response plan
Set up a cyber security committee in your organization, involving a representative of each of your stakeholder groups. Ask them to come up with a flexible plan which you can implement to keep your data safe from attack. You can also seek inputs and implementation from your IT support in London.
• Equip yourself with new-age skills
Finally, upgrade your cyber security skill sets by having key personnel trained. Remember that just as hacking technology becomes more sophisticated, so too does anti-hacking security technology.