– Time to equip your organization against a cyber attack?
2021 was the year that cyber attacks made a real entrance around the world. In April, cyber attacks against Swedish businesses increased by about 70% compared to the same month last year, which has led to an increased focus on the issue even for businesses that may not have previously had security high on the agenda.
Cyber threats are becoming more complex and intrusions more extensive. The number of systems that can easily locate vulnerabilities is constantly increasing, allowing cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities and launch attacks faster than ever. Attacks can range from influencing society in a certain direction to pure extortion to access a company’s financial assets. What is the reason for the surge in attacks? A number of factors are likely to be interacting and contributing to the steady increase we have seen in recent years.
Cybercrime tends to take advantage of major changes and uncertainties in the world around us. The pandemic is an example of a global crisis that affected us all and forced us to change overnight. As remote working has increased and more companies have chosen to store their data in cloud services, the doors to cyber intrusions have opened up. Something that now more than ever places increased demands on relevant security measures.
Shame keeps many cases hidden
It has probably not escaped anyone’s notice that several well-known Swedish companies and authorities have been hit by cyber attacks. The most famous examples are perhaps when the grocery chain Coop’s entire checkout system was knocked out or Kalix municipality’s all digital channels and business systems were down for a long period. Although some events are publicized, there is a large number of unreported incidents. Many affected companies are happy to keep cyber attacks quiet and choose not to report them to the police to avoid negative publicity and impact on business. Statistics show that only 3-5% of companies that are victims of extortion actually report it to the police.
In addition to the low number of reports, there is a challenge linked to the lack of knowledge of organizations and businesses about security and the preventive measures that need to be taken. Few understand the extent of the impact a cyber attack can have on their business, which in turn means that cybersecurity tends to be de-prioritized and, in many cases, falls through the cracks.
The IT security company Truesec has monitored and reviewed over 500,000 systems and compiled the cyber threats Swedish companies face in the future. The compilation shows that attacks are increasing and as part of this, more businesses, both large and small, are affected. Up to 80% of Swedish companies can expect some form of attack in the coming year.
Truesec’s compilation puts its finger on an old truth many people rely on: that only the very largest companies are at risk of cyberattacks. In fact, more and more small businesses are also affected. According to a study by the Better Business Bureau, as many as 22% of small businesses have been targeted by various attacks, with 11% of these occurring in the last year.
Doubt creates opportunity
Despite hard facts and solid reports, there is still a strong doubt among companies and organizations that they themselves will be exposed to a cyber attack. They simply misjudge the risks of a data breach and, combined with a lack of knowledge in the field, risk management is inadequate.
To best manage a cyber attack and mitigate its effects, thorough preparation is required. Every organization should ensure that it has a basic understanding of why it may be the target of an attack and how an attack is most likely to occur. Linked to this, a clear plan needs to be developed for how the organization can minimize and, of course, preferably completely prevent an intrusion from occurring. In the unlikely event that an attack does occur, there also needs to be a plan for dealing with it to reduce the damage it can cause to the business in every way. In short, it’s time for businesses and organizations to do their homework and stop serving up opportunities for hackers to get in. The days when the door to your business could be left ajar with the keys lying on the table are over. It’s time to close it and lock out unauthorized people with malicious intent.
Hackers never have a sale
While there is no doubt that data breaches have serious consequences and costly consequences, do today’s businesses and organizations really have a 100% understanding of what a breach can actually result in?
Ransomware attacks, where the organization is pressured for a ransom to release the hacker’s grip, rarely have a low price tag. Anyone who has never been hit is likely to have a fairly low knowledge of how much money it can actually involve.
By far the biggest and most common cost an attacked business incurs is lost revenue.In addition to the direct cost of a breach, there are indirect costs to consider. A breach inevitably affects your company’s reputation as customers begin to question whether your business is still safe to do business with and whether they risk being affected by the consequences of an attack. The risk of customers leaving you for a competitor perceived as safer increases.
We are all familiar with the saying “time is money”, a saying that becomes highly relevant in this context. Because when it comes to data breaches, every second counts. For every day a breach goes undetected, the costs increase. It is not uncommon for it to take longer to identify a breach than it takes to process one. According to IBM Security’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021, over the course of the year it took an average of 212 days to just identify a breach and 75 days to contain it. Valuable time that is being wasted – unnecessarily.
Many organizations are happy to spend their money on what can be predicted and is certain to happen. It is time to change the mindset and invest in what could potentially happen and could have major and costly consequences. Perhaps, in light of the changing world around us, it is time to increase the focus on security measures and prevention to avoid cyber attacks.
Close the door – once and for all!
A data breach can best be compared to a burglary. Imagine that your organization’s office is broken into. As soon as the thieves have gained access, a series of security measures are likely to be activated. An alarm goes off, a surveillance camera is activated and an emergency service is alerted. Managers and supervisors are alerted to the incident and given the opportunity to act. With business insurance, you will be compensated for the crime that has occurred and sometimes even receive compensation for damages. For burglaries, most businesses are prepared and have made sure to prioritize security measures to avoid it and reduce any impact. This is a matter of course.
What many businesses often forget is that it is possible to obtain insurance and security protection even for digital breaches. A type of intrusion that today is also much more likely to be exposed to. With insurance, your business can continue to work remotely and use cloud services, but still sleep well at night knowing that no unauthorized person can get in.
Today, there is quite a challenge in that small and medium-sized businesses do not have the same security protection in case of data breaches and cyber attacks. Statistics show that downtime and other consequences of a ransomware attack cost a company around SEK 1 million – a sum that can actually be reduced or avoided completely if you make sure to protect your business from the start. The key is to act now – before you get hit and it might be too late. It can be crucial to work preventively with solid security solutions in order to minimize the damage that occurs in the event of an attack.
At Synkzone, we’re not a traditional insurance company, but with our secure cloud data storage service, we can offer protection that minimizes both data breaches and the unfortunate consequences they can have. In the unlikely event of a breach, all data is encrypted, so there’s nothing to retrieve.
Welcome to talk more about secure cloud storage with us!