Cybercrime is growing, becoming a bigger and bigger headache for businesses. The Sony attacks of 2014 put data breaches on the national stage and heightened fears about cybercrime repercussions for businesses.
Let’s face it: It’s impossible for any business, no matter its size or IT budget, to ensure 100% immunity from data breaches.
Remember Target? The retail giant had just aced an audit for Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards a couple of months before all hell broke loose with a major security breach affecting credit card numbers, expiration dates and security codes for 40 million customers, plus other personal data for up to 70 million people.
Sony and Target made the news, but they’re far from isolated examples.
Below are takeaways from two recent reports from Symantec and Verizon on cyber attacks:
- Five out of six large companies have been targets of cyber attacks.
- In 60% of hacking cases, attackers are able to compromise an organization within minutes.
- 23% of recipients open phishing emails and 11% click on attachments.
- Almost 90% of attacks were from computer bugs more than a decade old.
- Digital ransomware attacks increased 113%.
In the face of these facts, how can you equip your organization to reverse risks and minimize the chances of an embarrassing (and costly) data security failure?
Keeping up with industry changes is essential. Bad guys keep evolving their tactics, and so should you.
Partnering with a strong consulting firm whose focus is to keep up with those changes is invaluable in helping you counter sophisticated, ever-changing threats.
Below are resources to help you protect your business:
- Ten Cybersecurity Strategies for Small Businesses (Federal Communications Commission)
- Small Biz Cyber Planner (Federal Communications Commission)
- Business Online Safety Guidance (National Cyber Security Alliance)
Can’t make sense of which steps to take next? Contact us. We’ll be glad to help or point you in the right direction.
