Did you know that in 2021, 64% of companies all over the world have experienced at least one form of cyberattack? And did you know that cyberattacks increased by 50% in 2021 compared to 2020? This does not sound very good, but luckily, business owners now have the means to fight the malicious actors targeting their companies, threatening to expose sensitive customer data, and disrupt their operations for days.
Is the Internet a blessing or a curse for businesses? I think it’s both. As companies, regardless of their sector, size, and age, benefit a lot from the internet and its many tools, so are the cybercriminals who are patiently waiting in the dark to find holes and cracks in organizations’ systems to gain access to critical data.
The advancement of technology and the fact that hackers become more and more skilled at their jobs pose a significant threat to organizations of all sizes.
Reasons Why Cybersecurity Is Crucial for Your Company
In order to better understand why cybersecurity is so important to companies, let’s see what are the main implications of a cyberattack:
- The financial impact! Companies that experience cyberattacks often lose a lot of money in the form of ransom payments, decreased company value, unapproved money transfers, or a drop in sales.
- There’s also the cost of investigating the attack which is a lot of work that must be done carefully, and most of the time, the victim company is hiring a consulting firm specializing in this type of assignment. If there is a suspicion of a crime, a forensic team has to analyze the evidence.
Just to give you an example, Sony spent $15 million on investigation and remediation costs, so the expenses of an investigation in the event of an attack must be factored in.
- The legal defense matter. If you were hacked because your security was deficient, customers may sue you for exposing their private information. Lawyers are expensive, and the cost of a legal battle, particularly in the United States, can spiral out of control.
- Lost revenue because of denial of service. A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is meant to shut down a device or a system, making it inaccessible to the users. The cost is determined by how important a business’s IT infrastructure is to its operations and how much revenue they lose in a given period of time.
- Your brand. Cyberattacks leave a business with a tarnished reputation as they significantly influence the way people see the company. Customers who have been loyal to a brand or business for decades will slowly move on and begin making transactions with competitors. The reason is simple: data privacy and security are extremely important these days. If a company fails to protect its customer’s data, it will lose their trust. It is as simple as that.
We all know that nowadays, online security is just as valuable as personal and home security. But when it comes to successfully managing a company in the digital era, the concerns are far more serious than having your social media account compromised or discovering a virus on your computer.
Unfortunately, the consequences are often dire as your employees’ and clients’ personal information can be stolen and used for malicious purposes.
Also, keep in mind that even if they can bring a lot of money to the threat actors, cyberattacks aren’t always directed at well-known organizations. Attacks can also affect small and medium-sized businesses. What is there to do? Well, it’s quite simple! Make sure that your company is protected by a respectable cybersecurity service provider.
Main Benefits of Good Cybersecurity Solution
- It defends against spyware, viruses, malicious codes, trojan horses, worms, and other cyber threats;
- Increases customer loyalty and trust, showing your customers you take cybersecurity seriously;
- Allows employees to work safely;
- Protects sensitive information;
- Reduces downtime and improves productivity;
- Quick response to incidents;
- Saves you a lot of money;
- Stops zero-day attacks;
- Provides a layered security approach to protect against a varied range of attacks;
- It gives employees and customers a sense of security;
Don’t Forget About Employee Training!
Now that we have established the critical role cybersecurity plays in your business, let’s see how important cybersecurity training for employees is.
The argument for educating employees on cybersecurity is straightforward: how can they be expected to avoid, report, or remove a security threat if they don’t know how to recognize it? Employees should know how to identify a potential threat and who in your organization should inform when something seems wrong.
The most fundamental type of cybersecurity training focuses on increasing employee awareness of potential risks. Your training should include topics concerning:
- Different forms of cybersecurity threats such as spam, phishing, malware and ransomware, and social engineering
- The importance of password security
- Email, internet, and social media policies
- The protection of corporate data
- How to identify and report cybersecurity threats
Most Important Attacks of 2021. What Were the Implications?
You probably heard about the Colonial Pipeline incident that is considered to be the most disruptive cyberattack of the year. The largest oil pipeline operator in the U.S was forced to shut down after being hit by ransomware. Colonial Pipeline allegedly paid the hackers nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency in return for a decryption key to restore its systems.
CNA Financial, a leading insurance company in the USA fell victim to a sophisticated cyberattack that ended up impacting its business operations and shutting down the CNA website. The company had reportedly agreed to pay the $40 million ransom to restore access to its systems following the ransomware attack.
And of course, Kaseya, a Florida-based IT service provider that made headlines after falling victim to a large-scale ransomware attack that compromised between 800 and 1500 businesses worldwide. Soon after the attack, the hackers asked for a $70 million ransom in order to provide the victims with a universal decryptor. Kaseya eventually decided that it will not pay the requested ransom.
Conclusion
There are many significant reasons why cybersecurity is vital for businesses. As the use of advanced technology increases, organizations and their clients become more vulnerable to cybercrimes like hacking, phishing, or fraud. However, a strong cybersecurity solution can allow operations such as financial transactions and website browsing to function safely. It also helps businesses in boosting productivity, employee security, and maintaining corporate reputation.
How Can Heimdal Help Your Business?
At Heimdal, we have designed next-gen cybersecurity tools and technologies with specific attack vectors in mind, to help organizations avoid multiple attack scenarios.
All our solutions are integrated into a unified dashboard and work together to deliver an enhanced EDR solution (Endpoint Prevention, Detection, and Response), which combines DNS filtering, Automated Patch Management, next-gen Antivirus, Privileged access management, Email security, and Ransomware Encryption Protection. Having a complete overview of your environment, within a single interface, will greatly improve your cybersecurity and minimize the attack surface.
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