The Role of Cybersecurity in Today’s Tech-Oriented World
Today’s business world is highly powered by technology, connectivity, and the internet. Since the inception of the internet, companies, and organizations have grown and evolved to be more scalable and efficient. However, with the growing online presence come new challenges that are more dangerous and mature than ever. Cyber-attacks have the potential to manipulate entire systems and databases in negligible time. That can not only ruin an organization as a whole but inflict damages on their customers also.
With data breaches and other cyber-attacks becoming more frequent, sophisticated, and potent, there’s a growing requirement for better and advanced cybersecurity mechanisms. In recent times, cybersecurity is not only about effectively preventing cyber attacks, but also about reducing the damage in case of a potent attack.
Nobody is Spared in a Cyber Attack
The fact about modern-day hackers is that they don’t completely focus on large and successful companies. This means that every business, organization, or institution, irrespective of their sizes or revenues, is a potential target for cyber attacks. On the other hand, big organizations have more funds to invest in cybersecurity. Hence, it is quite challenging for hackers to breach a large company; however, it is not impossible.
Even then, many small and medium-scale businesses and retail stores are more frequent targets of data breaches. Many times, cybercriminals tend to breach security in order to exploit the system and steal confidential data that they can sell later on the black market. Put simply, no one is safe from online attacks and data breaches.
For example, several companies in the United States and Europe were targeted by the largest DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack before the U.S. elections in 2016. Moreover, WannaCry targeted businesses and organizations across the world in 2017.
Needless to say, the need to deploy robust cybersecurity measures is substantiated by the increased threat from attacks that are maturing each year.
IoT Cybersecurity Market: Information by Type (Network Security, Endpoint Security, Cloud Security, Others), Application (Smart Home and Wearable’s), and Region-Forecast till 2029
The Impact of Cyberattacks on Online Customers
As mentioned above, anybody can fall prey to cyber-attacks. In fact, 43% of cybercriminals target small and medium-scale businesses. When a cyber-attack launches, it’s not only the businesses that are exploited and looted. Online consumers are also targets because they make frequent purchases from the business that has been attacked.
In such cases, the customers’ personal data are more likely to get stolen or breached. That being said, businesses do however store some amount of data about their customers. For example, 68% of businesses store email addresses and passwords, 64% store consumers’ phone numbers, while 54% store billing addresses.
Once the consumers face the negative outcomes of a cyber attack, they are less likely to do business with that company again. This is one of the primary reasons why 60% of small businesses fail to recover after a cyber attack. However, it’s not only the question of expertise and sophistication of their skills and techniques that make cybercriminals successful in breaching privacy.
Several small businesses fail to notice their cybersecurity requirements. This includes the implementation of outdated software, lack of security policies, and not having even the basic security practices in the first place. Business owners who are looking to secure their data and their consumers should consider hiring cybersecurity professionals to establish robust cybersecurity techniques and mechanisms, thereby preventing any possible attacks and losses.
Cybersecurity Market: Information by Solution (Network Security, Cloud Application Security), Deployment Type, Enterprise Size, End-Use (BFSI, Retail), and Region — Forecast till 2029
Emerging Cyber Threats
What distinguishes the modern internet is that there is a huge demand for more connectivity. It is predicted that the number of internet of things (IoT) devices will be more than 200 billion by 2020. Moreover, Microsoft predicts that the volumes of data will be 50 times greater than they are today by 2025.
That being said, the raid connectivity gives rise to countless possibilities for criminals and hackers to manipulate and exploit. In fact, mass-produced devices may or may not have a proper security mechanism in them. An excellent example of this is the Mirai DDoS attack that was carried out through different IoT devices, including baby monitors. With so many new devices emerging, cybersecurity must become a top priority now more than ever.
Shortage of Cyber Security Specialists and Professionals
Cybersecurity experts and specialists are crucial in designing proper security mechanisms and preventing, as well as adapting to ever-increasing cyber threats. They make strategic and well-informed decisions on how to secure data in the online world and help different businesses deploy adequate cybersecurity mechanisms. In any case, technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, and the internet is experiencing a growing demand for more connectivity. More and more devices are built every day to meet the growing technology demand, thereby creating the potential for new cyber threats to emerge.
Taking these factors into consideration, there is simply not enough cybersecurity professionals that can keep up and manage to cover all the vulnerabilities where cyberattacks are more likely to occur. According to researchers, the damage incurred by cyberattacks and data breaches will reach a whopping US$6 trillion by the end of 2021. This means that cybersecurity is greatly falling behind in this highly digitalized world.
On the other hand, cybersecurity professionals predict that there will be a massive shortage of specialists with accurate cybersecurity skills, leaving room for more than 1.5 million open employment opportunities. There’s a high demand for specialists that could help make the internet a safe space and secure both consumers and companies from cyber attacks.
Industrial Cybersecurity Market: Information by Type (Network Security), Application (Energy and Power, Manufacturing) and Regional Outlook — Forecast Till 2026
Top 4 Benefits of Implementing Cybersecurity Practices in Your Business
1. Protects the Integrity of Your Business
The majority of people around the world have now mastered the art of performing basic computer functions according to their requirements. Unfortunately, there are some people, referred to as cybercriminals and hackers, who use their knowledge to steal personal data and lure money from people.
In case you are a business owner and are not concerned about the cybersecurity of your company, attacks are prone to occur, costing you millions of dollars. At the forefront of this fight against cybercrime and cybercriminals, businesses must consolidate a solid mechanism by implementing the best cybersecurity measures and practices.
Robust cybersecurity practices and mechanisms can save millions of dollars for your business. Although, it does require an initial investment for installing a stable network, which eventually protects against intrusions. However, the complexity and scale of cyberattacks are increasing every day, and the threat is impending. Therefore, the need for protecting against such threats is critical. Moreover, if your clients are robbed, that alone is more than enough to bring your business down and even spoil the integrity of your brand.
2. Protects Your Company’s Data
Protecting the confidentiality of your business is very important in ensuring that it’s never compromised. Failure to protect your data will result in destroying the trust that your clients have in your company. Moreover, you also need to make sure that your data is well protected by guaranteeing that you have strong passwords.
Businesses that have suffered huge losses through cybersecurity found themselves in that scenario because they used weak passwords. Hence, if your business does not have the policy to help their customers set strong passwords; it is high time you made immediate changes before it is too late.
3. Cost-Effective and Reliable
If you look at the perils associated with cyberattacks, you will realize that cyber defense is the best option. The majority of companies that have suffered from cyberattacks or data breaches must have found it challenging to recover from it.
In fact, sometimes a company loses millions of dollars. The best way to avoid such scenarios is to make sure that you hire the right cybersecurity specialists that guarantee your business is well protected from cyberattacks.
4. Increase Cyber Speed
Cybersecurity plays a significant role in increasing the speed of your website. This is because the virus and the malware that attacks your system might not just steal your personal data but also slows down your system. This has a tremendous effect on your entire business as it harms its performance, including delays in deliverables and disrupted network speeds, along with data and revenue loss. Thereby, it causes a loss of misfortunes to your business. The main reason is that most people are time-sensitive. If they try to access your system and find it to be running slow, then the possibility of them never returning to your website is very high.
The Bottom Line
Cybersecurity has never been as important as it is in today’s technology-oriented world. Cyberattacks are extremely common these days, with an ever-growing internet of things (IoT) and connected devices.
In such an unpredictable and rapidly-changing realm of business, companies are continuously strengthening their security teams and practices more than ever. It is important to be aware of the potential vulnerabilities and resolve them before the advent of attacks that would eventually cost you your company. Moreover, it is necessary to be prepared in the event that a major attack on your systems or confidential data does launch.
One of the major trends in cybersecurity at present is that IT professionals and specialists are now losing control of their technologies. That is, technologies are becoming so advanced and automated at this point that it is becoming difficult to control them. Hence, cybersecurity needs to be at the forefront of businesses today, and the majority of the time, it is not, which results in cyberattacks and other data breaches.
Your company is worth protecting, and thereby, it is up to you to be prepared with the most up-to-date data security and best cybersecurity measures.
