Why Your Business Needs Cybersecurity

Never have cyber attacks been as prevalent as they are today. With the number of cyber attacks set to rise again in 2019, it’s important to know what these could be, the implications this could have in your business if you’re the victim of a breach, and how to prevent it from occurring using cybersecurity.

The landscape of cyber attacks is continuously evolving – it’s predicted that as many as 350,000 new samples of malware are discovered every day. Cyber attackers are consistently developing new ways to breach and compromise IT systems and IoT devices. So why do cyber attacks occur? Usually, it’s for one reason - to exploit illegally obtained information for financial gain.

Once a breach has occurred, you’ve already exposed valuable information to a cyber attacker. This could result in costly financial losses for your company. Read on to find out more about why a lack of cybersecurity is a threat to your business, and what you can do to prevent a breach.

 

Types of Cyber Attack

A cyber attack is a malicious and illegal attempt to access an IT system or personal computer to steal secret files, which most commonly are bank account or credit card details.

The main types of cyber threat fall into several main categories, such as:

  • Malware, spyware, and ransomware

  • DDoS (denial of service attack)

  • Phishing (mainly spam malware emails)

  • SQL injection

  • Zero-day attacks

Generally, the most common of all cyber attacks involve malicious malware, which ultimately leads to the extraction of financial or personal data. With 350,000 new examples of this virus released every day, this type of cyber attack is continually evolving, and with 30% of all breaches caused by malware in 2018, it’s imperative to update security measures regularly and employ preventative steps to recognize and block incoming malware threats.

Statistically, most cyber attacks will come from outside of your company, with 73% of all recorded attacks to businesses from external sources. Another potentially worrying statistic is the most targeted types of companies are small businesses, accounting for 58% of all attacks (Verizon Data Breach Investigation 2018).

Cyber attacks can happen to anyone, and all types of attacks can prove incredibly costly. Protecting both your personal and business devices and systems using cybersecurity has never been more critical.

 

Reasons To Protect Your Business Now

  • The overall estimated annual loss for cyber breaches per small business in the U.S. is $79,841.

  • Nearly 60 million Americans in total have been affected by cyber identity theft to date (Norton Security).

  • The U.S. receives 38% of all global cyber attacks, which is by far the most significant percentage (Norton Security).

  • Juniper Research expects more than half of all data breaches globally to occur in the U.S. alone by 2023.

  • The cost of the total average data breach to companies worldwide is now $3.86 million (U.S. dollars).

 

What You Can Do To Prevent A Cyber Attack

Adopting a cybersecurity strategy which covers potential threats from all types of attacks will be the most effective approach against a breach. Developing a system which includes a combination of antivirus, firewall, spam filters, data encryption, and password management applications will help to stop any criminal in their tracks.

Implementing a comprehensive network device including a high-class firewall and DDoS mitigation will keep your most valuable digital assets safe and out of the hands of cybercriminals. We offer a broad selection of solutions and work with businesses of all sizes, from single-employee to more than 10,000 employees.