Security

Cyber Attacks & Business: What You Need to Know

Chaz Hager April 22 2022

From using IoT devices to cloud migration,  businesses are moving online. With such increased digital adoption, the cases of cyber-attacks are also rising. In 2021 alone, there were 270 cyber attacks per company, a 31% increase from 2020.

Cyber attacks can cost your business millions in losses, reduce your reputation among customers, and expose you to regulatory scrutiny and hefty fines. Integrating a robust cybersecurity solution that secures your IT systems from all kinds of cyber threats can combat all these consequences.

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity refers to securing your business operations from potential cyber-attacks. Training your employees to detect and respond to cyber threats, using robust network and security solutions, third-party risk assessment, privileged access, etc are a few ways to create a secure IT infrastructure. 

Be it gaining unauthorized access, destroying or altering your database, or ransomware attacks, an ideal cybersecurity strategy should include different layers of protection to safeguard your business against all types of cyber intrusions. Network connectivity, applications, or cloud, your cybersecurity system should secure every level of your IT infrastructure.

Canva Design DAFBP7XRbxA3 Reasons Cybersecurity Matters

Evolved cyberattacks 

Cybercriminals are now equipped with sophisticated technologies to launch attacks on IT systems. From insider attacks and phishing to social engineering, hackers use different ways to compromise the online infrastructure of a business. Cyberattacks are no longer limited to data theft. Hackers are also attacking industrial systems to disrupt their operations.

Technology is a double-edged sword

Technologies like IoT and cloud are indeed helping organizations to enhance their business operations and drive growth. Nonetheless, constant connectivity to the internet and data sharing also make your business more vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

Businesses are also automating their operations with APIs, Kubernetes, and other associated technologies. Hackers can take advantage of this hyper-automation by exploiting APIs. To prevent such attacks, you need to implement robust network and security solutions.

Ransomware attacks

Cyberattacks can pose a massive capital burden on your organization as hackers demand ransomware to reopen your compromised systems. It is estimated that cybercrimes cost organizations $4.24 million per year. Many attackers are now collecting ransomware in cryptocurrencies as these digital assets make it difficult to trace their identities.

The Real Cost of Cyberattacks

Economic shock

Cyberattacks put your organization's intellectual property, business-critical information, and funds at risk. The cost of repairing your compromised systems after a cyber intrusion is also significantly higher. If we combine different types of cyberattacks, an organization loses $13 million per year to cyberattacks as of 2019.

Loss of customer trust

Loss of data and cyber-attacks put your business in a bad light. Customers demand data integrity from businesses. If you fail to secure your IT infrastructure, customers will lose trust in your business and stop using your services.

Regulatory fines

Regulatory bodies like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impose heavy fines and sanctions on businesses if they fail to secure customer data. GDPR has fine provisions of up to $23 million or 4% of annual revenue of the company in case the business does not have the required cybersecurity systems in place and fails to mitigate attacks.

How to Prevent a Cyberattack

Train your employees

90% of all data breaches in 2019 were caused due to human error. If you train your employees on how to identify and respond to cyber intrusions most cyberattacks can be prevented. You should invest in high-quality security awareness programs that educate your employees on data breach, phishing attacks, clickjacking, social engineering, threat intelligence, etc.

Use privileged access

Privileged access management refers to allowing access of your IT resources to your employees based on their roles and responsibilities. It ensures you are not exposing your entire IT system to employees thereby mitigating the risks of human error.

24/7 monitoring

Detecting a cyber attack early and combating it significantly reduces its impact. Make sure you have round the clock cybersecurity monitoring systems in place to monitor, detect, and respond to any suspicious activities.

Deploy a third-party risk management (TPRM) system

Third-party partners also pose a threat to your organization's security as hackers can penetrate your security firewalls via a compromised vendor. While partnering with any third-party service send them a detailed vendor assessment questionnaire to enquire about their security practices. Only partner with trusted vendors who comply with high cybersecurity standards.

Be Cyber Secure with Northtiver

In this age of sophisticated cyberattacks, advanced cybersecurity solutions become a necessity. Northriver cybersecurity solutions are powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence to proactively identify and combat cyber intrusions. 

We provide network, endpoint, cloud security solutions as well as identity threat protection to bulletproof your IT infrastructure against all types of cyber attacks. Contact us today to implement a robust cybersecurity solution for your organization.

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