According to research conducted in 2019 by Ponemon Institute revealed that over 75% of US businesses experienced at least one form of a cyberattack over the course of the year. As such, it is imperative that a firm’s servers and the network remains solid against attacks, not only to hold up the firm’s reputation but also protect the trusted customers’ private information to avoid lawsuits and losses in any ramification at all.
Different cyber risks faced by businesses
No successful establishment has gone a number of years without occasionally receiving a significant hit from cybercriminals and their activities. In a 2018 survey, it was revealed that almost three-quarters of all big businesses rank cybersecurity high on their list of priorities. The following are the common cyber threats faced by firms in the modern day:
a) Ransomware:
Ransomware attacks occur when malware finds its way onto the system, or a hacker breaches an establishment’s server to encrypt and lock the data, requiring a fee to release the information. Cybercriminals who employ this technique commonly use cryptocurrencies to receive payment to ensure anonymity should the case be reported to the authorities.
b) Data Leakage:
This can occur via any number of ways, most of which can be traced back to home devices. The staff that takes their work home may have their firm’s information on their devices, with none of the security that company devices have. Data thieves generally use public connections like Wi-Fi as their home hunting grounds, accessing phones that connect, and then searching for and replicating useful information found on there. Information obtained are often sold on the dark web to the highest bidder or used for other malicious activities.
c) Human Error:
This is the most common avenue through which a company can be attacked. These errors range from a staff whose passwords have been compromised through any number of ways to an employee who is trigger happy social media fan, accidentally sharing confidential firm information to the general public; potentially costing the organization millions of dollars in damages and repairs.
d) Data Loss:
Many organizations do not realize this, but one of the major ways through which hackers gain access to company systems and databases is via compromised links and emails. Once a victim within the organization gets infected through a malicious link or email, the malware begins to infect the browser and even the device, potentially stealing information or destroying the device.
Having outlined the several risks faced, it is clear that cyber-resilience is important for any company looking to forge ahead. However, not all cyber-resilient programs are effective, so here are a couple of features to check for in your system to ensure that it is a good one.
Essential elements in a strong cyber-resilience program
Automation: An IBM study showed that 9 out of every ten breaches to a network or organizational system arise from human errors, whether it be indecisiveness or momentary distraction and poor judgement by the individual. It is ensuring that cybersecurity is simply defined as the act of equipping PCs, smartphones, servers, databases, and information with defenses against the influence of hackers and other forms of attacks.
Cyber-resilience, on the other hand, is the quality of the protected device or entity to continuously prepare for and defend itself from incoming attacks. Essentially a form of cybersecurity, but more detailing and planning goes into the set up to ensure efficiency in the long run.
Understanding the Difference between Cybersecurity and Cyber resilience
While cybersecurity covers the basics, which includes but is not limited to firewalls, anti-malware, and staff training measures, cyber-resilience is designed for the instances where cybersecurity measures have failed, ensuring that the affected can continue to operate with nearly the same quality of output as before the failure.
Most cybersecurity measures are usually pretty standard and should protect your information well enough if you are not handling overly sensitive information like the customers’ data. For organizations, on the other hand, standard one-walled security protection is not sufficient as cybercriminals improve their tricks daily.
Any action which does not have to be performed by a human is left automated on a schedule.
- Extra security: In order to prevent the physical invasion into the premises, security systems should be buffed up, setting up 24/7 CCTV cameras in and around the building, tiered swipe cards for the accessing of doors, preventing low-level staff access to sensitive areas in the building.
- Restricted Access: This is simply the software-based implementation of tiered card access. This ensures that only authorized staff have the clearance to perform specific actions and view some particular files. Besides this, multi-level authentication should be required severally, especially when engaging in tasks, regardless of the initial log in.
- Cybersecurity programs: Besides the extra security, cybersecurity programs are a great method of ensuring protection. This can be done by encrypting your traffic with a VPN, ensuring that all information moved on the network remains impervious to the influence of hackers, as well as prevent viruses from getting into important data.
Conclusion
The reality is that cyber-resilience grows daily. Plenty of business organizations are becoming even more aware of its benefits because of the threat they face these days from cybercriminals. However, any firm with the above features in their program should be able to weather the storm easily.
