Top 6 Data Security Challenges Enterprises Face and How to Mitigate Them
Data security has always been important to businesses. But nowadays, its vitality becomes more pronounced. Why? The use of data is tightly woven into the day-to-day activities of enterprises now more than ever. From marketing to competitor analysis to payment methods, data, particularly sensitive data, has earned its keep. Today, we’ll go into the common data security challenges enterprises face and how to mitigate them. What’s going on? Just before we launch into the challenges, let’s take a minute to familiarise with the terrain. It’s important to note that organisations constantly stage a fight—a losing one nonetheless—against cyberattacks of all kinds. The increased spending on cybersecurity in recent years proves that enterprises take the whole thing seriously. Regardless, the data security challenges still seem insurmountable. Why is data security important? The evolution of the workforce from traditional to remote and hybrid created wide gaps in the organisation that let cybercriminals in. and these vulnerabilities expose the enterprise to several consequences ranging from mild to severe. First, there’s unnecessary expenditure. To curtail the effects of a data breach, lots of money will be spent. Although some companies take out insurances to cover the cost, it doesn’t get the job done every time. Factor in the lawsuits from affected customers, and the numbers can only go higher. There’s also the reputational damage to consider. Seeing as no one would trust a brand prone to losing data integrity to constant cyberattacks, organisations need to embrace data security to avoid terrible fates. Also, data protection regulations around the world emphasise the importance of data security. For instance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates appropriate data security measures as part of its basic requirements. And non-compliance comes with hefty fines and penalties. In 2022, Facebook was fined €265 million after personal data (facebook IDs, location, phone number, email address, etc.) was found on a website for hackers. Another instance: The British ICO issued a €20.4 million fine to Marriott International for failing to secure customers’ personal data. This incidence compromised almost 339 million guest records—personal and sensitive data included. Top data security challenges enterprises face Although businesses now take bold steps towards data security, it still isn’t 100% sufficient. There are some challenges that make securing data stressful—if not impossible. Here’s a compilation of a few data security challenges enterprises face for awareness sake. One thing’s sure: different operational teams make up a successful enterprise. Since data is the heart of each activity, each operational team will have it’s own data and database—very good and efficient. Now, where the problem lies is visibility or transparency. For large organisations with numerous departments, the central team (admin) usually finds it difficult to keep track of every piece of data used, stored, etc. by each team. This makes data security tedious; why? Without knowledge of what’s what, we can’t know exactly what security measures to use. Nowadays, individuals generate large amounts of data daily, which organisations in turn use. Sounds nice and cool till it’s time to secure it. Although large corporations benefit greatly from their large pool of data, securing it requires so much technology, money, and effort. The sheer amount of data leaves several ends unprotected and grants cybercriminals an attack opportunity. In addition, employees use repeated passwords to access personal and professional devices and even connect to insecure networks. That way, they unknowingly leave the door open for malicious actors. With malware becoming very easy to use, malicious actors need alarmingly little to cause significant data issues for their target. Managing cloud and digital infrastructure is a task that requires top-notch skills. You can’t just pick up any John Doe on the streets to help secure data; professionals are needed for the job. Normally, it’s not easy getting skilled workers in any industry. That the “great resignation” is affecting many organisations, the lack of skilled workers poses a challenge to data security for enterprises. Although data breaches disturb the operations of the organisation, customers and clients end up on the receiving end. At the end of the day, it’s the personal data of the individual that leaks. So, to curb these, data protection laws and regulations were enacted. These regulations, like the GDPR of the EU, the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), etc., grant data subjects (data owners) more control over their data and how it’s used. As a consequence, they pose a challenge to enterprises due to their stringent rules. Next is the cost. To properly comply with data security laws, organisations need to implement functional systems to keep track of compliance activities, e.g., GDPR compliance software. And such software doesn’t come cheap. Besides the cost of procuring these systems, their installments don’t come cheap. That’s not including the regular upgrade and cost of hiring a data compliance officer. While growth is a welcome development in every institution, it comes with inconveniences also. Managing data security and privacy solutions can test even the most experienced professionals in the field. For one, budget doesn’t always increase with the pressing demand for better security systems that growth brings, putting treams already struggling with data security under more pressure. The urgent need to install new systems quickly may lead to a situation where maintaining control becomes a concern for CISOs. Remote work is now part of the grand scheme for enterprises that wish to stay up-to-date and retain talents. In fact, it’s recommended that every organisation finds a way to embrace remote work fully, or at least, try out hybrid work mode. Then, securing each endpoint becomes necessary to protect the enterprise. The new landscape and policies that come with hybrid work prove a challenge to data security. This concludes the top 6 data security challenges enterprises face. Tips to mitigate these challenges Now that you know what challenges you’ll most likely face, here’s how your organisation can improve data security. Reduce the attack surface This is achieved by placing an access limit on sensitive data. This additional security control pops up right before accessing critical business info. This approach, referred to as the zero trust
GDPR Consent Statement: What It Is and How to Write One
Consent is an important part of human society, particularly the modern one. Whether it’s using a friend’s property or establishing an amorous relationship, “yes” matters a lot. Let’s link this back to data protection. Since it’s implementation, the GDPR places value on consent. This blog post gives answers about consent under the GDPR, what a GDPR consent statement is, and how to write one. What is a GDPR consent statement? In cases where organisations need to obtain consent, it’s vital that the clients or persons are informed. To do that, a GDPR consent statement becomes necessary. A GDPR consent statement is a clear declaration by organisations to get consent from individuals before collecting, processing, and storing their data. This is in accordance with the General Data Processing Regulation (GDPR). What is the GDPR? On may 25, 2018, the European Union decided it was time to toughen up data protection. And so the GDPR came to be. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most comprehensive law for data protection in the world, with many adaptations of it. For example, the NDPA (Nigerian Data Protection Act) The goal of the law is to grant data subjects (owners of data) more control over their data and it’s processing. majorly, the GDPR focusses on personal data and sensitive data. Under the EU regulation, personal data refers to information that identifies an individual,e.g, name, age, job, etc. while sensitive data under the GDPR include vulnerable data such as bank details, National Identification Number, health status, etc. The Basic Principles of the GDPR : Who does the GDPR apply to? The GDPR applies to any organizations that When it comes to punishing the non-compliant, the General Data Protection Regulation earned it’s reputation as the strictest data protection law. For example, the Italian data protection authority, the Garante, issued its largest GDPR fine of over €79 million against ENEL Energia for telemarketing misconduct. So, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of the law. Need help with GDPR compliance? Book a free consultation with our experts at Johan Consults. Consent and the GDPR The GDPR places a lot of importance on data subject consent to data processing. Although consent is one of the lawful basis for processing data, it’s not compulsory. What does that mean? A common myth of the GDPR is that you always need consent to process data. That’s not true. In fact, you can find other reasons if consent proves hard to get. Consent is only appropriate when you are sure you can stop processing when the subject opts out. Because it would be terrible if you went ahead to process data even when the individual said now. Also, consent as a precondition of a service may not be lawful So, if you can process data legally without consent, go ahead. Otherwise, you might face harsh penalties for wrong consent practices. What is valid consent? The GDPR places utmost priority on consent and how it’s gotten. Here’s what the GDPR considers valid consent. Consent given freely; this is very important. With no form of coercion or similar acts. The individual must have genuine choice and control over their data—no hanky-panky. The consent includes the data controller’s identity, processing purpose, and the procedure for processing. Valid explicit consent must be communicated in words, and consent requests must be clear and unbundled from other information. That way, it’s easily identified. So, what’s the importance of a GDPR consent statement? The following are reasons to use a GDPR consent statement Example of a GDPR Consent Statement The example below serves as a perfect depiction of a GDPR-compliant consent statement. Let’s measure it against the key features of a consent form. “By checking this box, I consent to Techdella collecting and processing my personal data for the purpose of receiving newsletters, marketing materials, and service updates. I understand that my data may be shared with third-party partners for analytics and marketing purposes. I also acknowledge that I have the right to withdraw my consent at any time by contacting support@techdella.com, and I can request access to, modify, or delete my data. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.” The key elements of a GDPR consent statement Purpose: A clear explanation of why data is collected and how it’ll be used—’for the purpose of receiving newsletters, marketing materials, and service updates.’ Data sharing: whether data will be shared with third- parties and “may be shared with third-party partners for analytics and marketing purposes.”. User rights: The consent statement must inform individuals about their rights, such as access, rectification, and consent withdrawal. – “The right to withdraw my consent at any time by contacting support@techdella.com, and I can request access to, modify, or delete my data.” Clear action: it must have an an opt-in mechanism like a checkbox for explicit consent. – “By checking this box, I consent.” Contact details: Lastly, a valid consent statement must provide contact details for data protection. – “support@techdella.com” How To Write a GDPR Consent Statement Since you know what a consent statement should contain for valid consent, here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a compliant GDPR consent statement. State clearly the purpose for which you’re collecting data. Be very specific; is it for marketing, analytics, or whatever? Also, if there are more reasons than one, make sure to state them separately. This ensures enough clarity. Ensure users take explicit actions to give their consent. Examples: clicking a button, checking a box. Note: pre-checked boxes aren’t acceptable. Importantly, avoid implied consent, like continuing to use a website as a form of acceptance. If you’ll share the data with a third party for any reason, include who they are and what they do, together with the reason why. Additionally, if data transfers will happen, let them know where to and how the data will be protected. Your consent statement must include how long you will store data and what will be done once it’s not needed anymore. Include the following rights of individuals in it: Make sure to provide instructions on how users
Top 12 GDPR requirements you must know in 2024
Top 12 GDPR requirements you must know in 2024 Towards the early 2000s, the European Union realised the need to regulate data protection and security. Although some other factors were involved, the fast rise of the internet became the final push for a data protection regulation. This brought about the implementation of the GDPR. On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into existence. The main goal of the GDPR is to give data subjects (owners of data) more control and protection over how their data is collected, processed, used, and stored by organisations. An important point to note is that the GDPR applies to every organisation that operates in the EU or handles data belonging to an EU citizen, wherever they are. Now, there are several GDPR requirements for organisations, and this article provides a summary of them. Lawful, fair, and transparent processing Shouldn’t be hard, right? Yes, it sounds straightforward, but according to IT Governance UK, it’s the most violated GDPR requirement. Article 5 of the GDPR mandates every organisation handling data to have a legal reason to do so. Meaning, you can’t collect, process, and store personal information for any random purpose. To know if your processing is lawful, check it against the GDPR’s lawful basis for processing. For data processing transparency, you should communicate clearly your ways of processing, in addition to the lawful reasons, to the data subjects. For this, you should make privacy notices and ensure data owners have easy access to it. Purpose limitation This requirement addresses another issue. With this, every organisation can process data for the lawful purpose clearly stated ONLY. This means that you cannot process collected data for reasons beyond the initial purpose. Data minimisation Isn’t it better to collect all the data you can get from each subject in one go? While it sounds reasonable, the GDPR kicks against it. You can only collect data necessary for the stated purpose. For instance, in research for the average height of males, the HIV/AIDS status of the subject isn’t needed. As such, you shouldn’t collect it. Accuracy No organisation should keep or process incorrect data. As such, data accuracy under the GDPR is mandated and effective immediately upon discovery. Storage limitation There‘s a limit to how long an organisation’s keep data after processing. Of course, there are unique timeframes for each type of data. In summary, data retention under the GDPR cannot be longer than necessary. Integrity and confidentiality The GDPR states that organisations must implement technical measures to ensure data security. Such methods include encryption, data masking, etc. Accountability Yes, the GDPR requires absolute compliance by organizations. And so they have to show proof of their compliance. Struggling with GDPR compliance? Contact Johan’s Consult now for a free 1-1 consultation.Data Subject Rights Since the goal of the data protection regulation is to give subjects more control, it makes sense that there are GDPR rights for individuals. The right to be informed Entities (organisations) must tell individuals what data is collected, how it’ll be processed, and the purpose. And these must be communicated clearly in plain language. Right to rectification Should the data subject discover any inaccuracies in its data, he/she can request that the organisation correct it. Now, the organisation has a month to rectify the inaccuracy. But there are exceptions. The right to access An individual can demand a copy of his/her personal data. Once the individual submits DSARS (data subjects access requests), the organisation has one month to oblige the request. Right to erasure Under certain circumstances, individuals can ask organisations to delete their data permanently. For example, cases of unlawful processing and when the data is no longer necessary. Right to data portability Individuals can obtain and reuse their personal data for personal reasons. This right is for data given to the organisation through contract or consent. The right to object When organisations want to process data for lawful reasons, they give subjects the right to object to the processing. Unless they have valid reasons not to, organisations must stop processing when individuals exercise this right. Want to learn how to write a GDPR-compliant consent statement? Click here. Privacy by design This concept has been around for awhile. Although it used to be a best practice for data protection, the GDPR mandates it for every organisation. This requirement mandates organisations to implement technical and organisational measures to ensure data protection and Use security measures to implement the GDPR principles. To help you track your compliance journey, make use of this checklist. Data transfers In the event that an organisation needs to transfer data between borders, the GDPR requires additional steps. However, if you’re moving data within the EU, you’re exempt from extra requirements. For data transfers with third-party countries—outside the EU—Article 46 outlines protection steps. Basically, this situation’ll need an SCC (standard contractual clauses). An SCC is used for data transfers between an EU country and a third-party country. Data protection impact assessment A DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment) helps organisations identify and reduce risks associated with data processing. It’s required in situations where sensitive information or data of vulnerable persons’ is processed. Article 35 of the GDPR speaks on the concept of DPIA and states that it is required where data processing “is likely to result in a high risk to rights and freedom of natural persons.”. The regulation does not explicitly define high risk, but it generally refers to the use of: systematic and extensive profiling; Special category or criminal offence data on a large scale; and Systematic monitoringof publicly accessible places on a large scale For a better grip on GDPR compliance, you can use GDPR compliance software. Data protection officer A DPO (Data Protection Officer) is an individual trained in the technicalities of data protection who helps organisations with data protection in compliance with data protection regulations. Article 39 explains the roles of a data protection officer (DPO). highlights include: advising and training staff on their data protection responsibilities; Monitoring the organisation’s data protection policies and procedures; Overseeing
Top 6 GDPR Compliance Software To Know In 2024
Top 6 GDPR Compliance Software To Know In 2024 Introduction Facts first, Data is important. Subsequently, it’s a necessary part of every organisation, large or small. In today’s world, almost every nation and industry has established regulations for data protection and security. To prevent landing on the wrong side of such laws, you need to ensure 100% compliance.In this post, you can expect a brief overview of the GDPR and top GDPR compliance software you should know. Quick recap: what’s the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation came into existence in 2018 and has since earned its reputation. It is by far the most respected data protection regulation in the world. As a matter of fact, it served as the template for most of the data protection laws around the world. For instance, the NDPA holds several similarities with the GDPR so much that the major difference between the two is the scope of application. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates organisations that fall under the following categories to have absolute compliance. operating in the EU. handling data of an EU citizen (no matter where it’s located) has a branch in the EU Does the GDPR apply to your organization? Find out at Johans Consults. The 7 GDPR principles At the core of the GDPR, there are 7 principles every company needs to follow. They are; Integrity and confidentiality You must employ every means necessary to protect data from unauthorised access, processing, damage, or accidental loss. So, you need a reliable data security system. Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency You cannot collect data for just any reason. So, whatever purpose you have must be lawful. Also, the data collection process must be transparent and legal. For instance, you cannot buy personal information from a third party. You need to get the data directly from the data subject itself. Also, you MUST tell the data owner the reason for the collection. Note: This reason must be stated clearly. Know how to write a GDPR consent statement. Purpose Limitation. As an organisation, you can’t just collect data for one reason and process it for several others. Once you’ve used the data for the purposes stated beforehand, you cannot make use of it. again. Although, if the need arises, you should inform the data subjects and seek their consent again. Data Minimisation This principle states that you cannot keep every single piece of information you collect. For example, when you collect data through the filling of forms, you’re mandated to keep the ones important to the cause only. The Ultimate GDPR Compliance Checklist for you Accuracy Your organisation must not store incorrect information. Every inaccuracy must be corrected with immediate effect. Accountability The GDPR holds every organisation accountable for what they do with users’ data and its safety. Also, you need to prove your compliance with the data protection regulation through proper records. Storage Limitation You can only keep data for a limited period of time. The duration depends on the type of data and its sensitivity. For example, you can store financial data for up to 6 years, but health-related data is more limited. Learn about the Top 12 GDPR Requirements. So, what is GDPR compliance software? Now that you understand the basics of the GDPR, you must know that compliance isn’t an easy task. Often times, a lot of organisations don’t even know where to begin. Neither do they know how to achieve maximum compliance. That’s where GDPR compliance software comes in. These softwares are the several tools that assist businesses towards GDPR compliance. Today, these tools come with different functionalities. Some simply record compliance activity, while the advanced others provide audits, reports on data breaches, consent management, and find weaknesses in your compliance strategy using gap analysis. To narrow down your search, we’ve compiled the top GDPR compliance software for you. Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager This is great GDPR compliance software made for Microsoft365 users. To use it, you’ll need An Office 365 E5 license. The features include; Ability to conduct several assessments Ability to identify and protect sensitive data Protects against unauthorised access Implements data minimisation and storage limitations Protects against accidental disclosure Classifies data based on the level of sensitivity Deletes data after a specified period of time Netwrix Netwrix supports organisations with GDPR compliance through its Auditor and related tools. Here are some of its remarkable features. Data Discovery and Classification: Netwrix finds, classifies, and protects sensitive personal data in accordance with the GDPR. Also, it scans on-premises and cloud-based systems to pinpoint where personal data is stored and ensures that there are controls to secure it. Security of Processing: Netwrix provides a clear picture of how data is accessed and shared. By monitoring user behaviour and detecting unauthorised access, it ensures secure personal data processing. Breach Notification: Netwrix is a GDPR compliance software with data breach alerts. The software aids in quick detection of data breaches by reporting them. Audit and Reporting: Netwrix Auditor provides detailed auditing and reporting capabilities. This includes logs of data access, data modification, and user activities, which are crucial for demonstrating accountability. Not sure if you’re compliant with the GDPR? Contact us at Johans Consults for a detailed assessment. Snow software Snow Software is a GDPR risk assessment solution available on cloud, mobile, or on-premise. Below are some of its remarkable features. GDPR Risk Assessment: Snow Software identifies applications and devices that handle personal data and notes those with weak protections, e.g., encryption or anti-virus. Continuous Monitoring and Reporting: Snow’s solution keeps constant analysis of applications that process personal data and generates reports to help mitigate risks. Internal Threat Mitigation: The software focusses on reducing internal threats, such as corrupt employee actions and unsecure applications. To do so, the software flags risky devices and users. Comprehensive Asset Management: Snow also offers broad IT asset management features like license compliance tracking and software usage meters. So, you gain control over your IT systems. In addition, Snow software comes with an automated discovery feature that lets you know which user has specific access to apps
Top 7 Data Security Technologies
As a business, you will collect data. In fact, it’s more than necessary for proper growth. You’ll need it for a tonne of reasons, like managing customer relationships, marketing, recording transactions, and several others. While data is extremely valuable, it can be a wrecking ball for your business—only if you don’t take strong and purposeful steps to secure it. Amongst the massive amounts of data your organisation collects, a lot are sensitive and personal. These make your business a sitting target for hackers and cybercriminals. While a cyberattack is unvoidable for businesses—statistics show that each organisation averages 1363 cyberattacks per week—you can prevent a successful data breach. With the appropriate data security technologies, you get to secure your business against cybercrimes. What is data security? Before we go into data security technologies, let’s go over the concept of data security. Data security is the entire process an organisation goes through to secure its data from data breaches. Often times, data security, data protection, and cybersecurity are mistaken for the same. Why? Their primary goal is to safeguard data. The danger to data lies beyond cyberattacks. Think of it this way: while cyberattacks are external efforts to compromise data, there are internal threats to it—loss and mishandling by the organisation’s own staff. So, data protection is the method to safeguard data from loss, compromise, or mishandling (insider threats). Data security defends data against threats to its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Now, cybersecurity concerns the protection of data and assets such as software, hardware, computer systems, mobile phones, connection devices, etc. So, with cybersecurity, you also secure every device used to collect, process, or store sensitive data. What is the importance of data security? The most important reason why organisations go out of their way to secure data is for compliance. Nowadays, countries around the world have established data security laws and regulations, and these laws impose hefty fines on noncompliant organisations. Whether your business loses its customers’s data to cyberattacks or mishandling, you will be held responsible for the problem. Here’s what you’re in for: Compliance with data regulations is not the only reason to ensure data security. There’s the reputational damage your business will suffer. Since you need your customers to trust your brand, your business may never recover from such a blow. Asides the customer’s data you hold, data security prevents your company’s core data—employee and customer records, sales and purchase invoices, and digital materials—from breaches. So, with the right data security technologies, you can ensure these are safe. Data Security Technologies Do you understand what data security’s all about? Let’s move on to the data security technologies you can use. The technologies you implement depend on various factors, such as the type of data your business works with, the tools and infrastructure you use, and the structure of your organisation. Top 7 Data Security Technologies You Can Use First is the identification and classification of data. You can’t possibly defend what you don’t know, hence the identification. What kind of data do you hold? What type of data do you handle on behalf of others? Are they names, bank details, religious beliefs, or others?. Answering those questions will reveal the identity of your data correctly. On to data classification. Now that you know your data, the next step is to check what category it falls under. The nature of data is best determined by the data security regulations available. For instance, the GDPR sets its own features for different categories of data; likewise, the NDPA. The NDPA describes sensitive data as “personal data relating to an individual’s “genetic and biometric data, for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person; race or ethnic origin; religious or similar beliefs, Once you’ve identified and classified the data, you can now decide on the best data security technologies to use for it. User Authentication and Authorisation Authentification and authorisation are the most visible technologies available. Almost everyone’s familiar with them. Authentification means that you verify the person trying to access the system is who they say they are. For this, we have usernames and passwords (with multifactor authentication) or an API key for programmatic access. Hardware security uses biometrics, built-in two-factor authentication, and secure enclave technology built into the processor itself. Authorisation checks whether the person has permission to access a particular file or resource. You must ensure your authentication methods only allow the people you want into your systems. Also, regular updates to access policies must be made. Data Encryption Encryption is known as one of the most reliable ways to secure data. Data encryption uses an algorithm that scrambles data so it becomes unreadable without the decryption key. It provides an extra layer of protection beyond access control because even if data’s stolen, it can’t be read. While this gives added security, you must keep the decryption key safe. Without the key, even you cannot read the data. Data encryption is one of the go-to data security technologies for when data is at rest or in transit. Data Backup Besides access control, you need to consider backing up your data. This helps you recover your data in case of loss or compromise. How to do that? It’s best you have at least 3 copies of your data in different physical locations; that way, you’re 10 steps ahead of a hardware failure. If you use cloud storage, keep a copy on another platform so your data is safe even if you can’t access the primary platform. By making exact copies of your data and keeping it in a secure place where it can be accessed by authorised persons only, you minimise risks. However, ensure you provide maximum protection for the backups, just like the original copy. And conduct regular updates to ensure it’s integrity. Data Masking Masking works by replacing certain parts of data with meaningless characters to make it unreadable. For example, replace all but the last few digits of a credit card number with asterisks. That way, the data gives
The Importance of Cybersecurity Services in Modern Organisations
Introduction In this new age of digital transformation, individuals and organisations are more connected than ever before. The internet provides a safe place for entities to communicate and conduct businesses with an easy backdrop. While it’s a welcome development, it comes with several unpalatable consequences. The importance of cybersecurity services comes in due to the huge target on organisations and persons by unethical people. In this article, I’ll take you through the exact reasons why cybersecurity is important in modern organisations. What is cybersecurity? Cybersecurity is the entire process by which organisations protect their systems (computers), storage devices, and important tools—sensitive data included—from external threats to their functionality. Often times it’s regarded as the same as data security, which isn’t exactly right. While cybersecurity focusses on the protection of sensitive data and all hardware and software in the organisation, data security simply means data protection from external threats. Purpose of Cyberattacks There would be no need for cybersecurity if there wasn’t an enemy to keep out. Cyberattacks are the enemies. The technological advancement of the world gives such attacks enough ammunition to strike at the heart of organizations. In the second quarter of 2024 alone, checkpoint research recorded a 30% increase in the occurrence of cyberattacks globally. To better understand this statistic, just know that cyberattacks average 1636 hits per week for each organization. Now, to the worse fact, no industry is left out of the onslaught. So, imagine your little, medium, or large business taking wave after wave of attacks without a shield system in place. Let’s do an overview of cyberattacks so you can understand what you’re up against. 5 Most Common Cyberattacks Cybercrime is defined as any unauthorised activity that includes network, computer, and any other device. Now, cyber threats are classified into 3 categories: These are the common cyberattacks below. Malware: This threat takes the form of malicious software, hence the term malware. Malware is an umbrella term for viruses, worms, spyware, and ransomwares. These types of cyberattacks stop access to your computer and interrupt the entire system. In fact, malware can subtly transfer information from your storage. Phishing: phishing is the most common form of cyberattacks. In 2022 alone, 84% of organisations were the target of at least one phishing attempt. Like the name suggests, cybercriminals “fish” for sensitive and personal data of victims with false emails that impersonate a trusted source. E.g., an email from a bank that asks for credit card details to correct one or more issues with the client’s account. Also, some also install malware. Man-in-the-middle attack: here, cybercriminals, i.e., hackers, squeeze themselves into an online transaction between two people. Denial of service: For this type of cyberattack, hackers overwhelm a computer and network with “handshake” processes. Eventually the network breaks down and users are unable to access it. Trojan: This form of attack imitates the famous Trojan horse. Cybercriminals present malicious software under the guise of a “harmless” file. Afterwards, the malware establishes itself as a channel for them to attack the system. So, what is the importance of cybersecurity services? If you’re a business owner still contemplating the importance of cybersecurity, here are reasons to consider an investment in cybersecurity. The Sheer Amount of Cyberattacks On average, 30,000 websites are hacked daily; a company gets attacked every 39 seconds, and an estimate of 60% of organisations have experienced a data breach. With these statistics in mind, the chances that your organisation will be exempt are extremely low. As a matter of fact, the right question isn’t “if” but “when.”. Now, the number of attacks as a problem can be solved with just any security measure. But their complexity makes it even worse. Cyber threats take various forms and require different types of cybersecurity measures to combat them. Financial Implications According to the bureau statistics, financial losses to cybercrimes come close to $12.5 billion in 2022. This proves the validity of cybersecurity in today’s world. Apart from the money cybercriminals loot, organisations part ways with another massive amount of money to rectify whatever damage they—criminals—caused. For instance, data subjects might file a lawsuit against the company in accordance with data laws like the NDPA. Also, the fortification of the initial channels breached cuts a huge hole in the business’ pockets. Reputational Damage. Would you trust a partner who betrayed you? Would you place money in an investment known to constantly fail? And would you walk the path infested with bandits?. Most likely, you answered no to the questions.The consequences of a successful data breach include loss of customer trust. As a matter of fact, some businesses never recover from the reputational damage of a cyberattack. Thus, the importance of cybersecurity services shines through. As a business, the implementation of a strong cybersecurity system will prevent this situation in the first place. In addition to the major importance of cybersecurity services, here are some other advantages of cybersecurity services. Boosts productivity: A solid cybersecurity system reduces the downtime caused by data breaches. Therefore, productivity levels go up. Encourages remote workspace: Many organisations shy away from remote work modes due to their vulnerable nature. But, with cybersecurity, the risks are minimal. GDPR compliance: Cybersecurity encourages compliance with data protection laws like the GDPR, NDPA, etc. since it encompasses the protection of personal data. Disadvantages of Cybersecurity Services Cybersecurity also comes with downsides. Some of which are mentioned below: Regular updates: The constant evolving nature of cyberthreats does not permit a stagnant cybersecurity system. As the threats evolve, so does cybersecurity, which needs regular updates—an outdated system = cyberattack channel. Complex set-up: To set up cybersecurity, organisations need qualified personnel certified in cybersecurity. Constant monitoring: Cybersecurity needs to be checked and enhanced regularly so as to discover chinks in the system. Cost: Considering the shortage of talents and the cybersecurity tools required, the total cost of implementing cybersecurity is expensive. As a result, many organisations forgo it. Conclusion Prioritizing cybersecurity is no longer optional but a necessity for sustainable business operations. Implementing robust cybersecurity measures helps protect sensitive data, maintain operational continuity, prevent financial loss, and preserve the company’s reputation.
