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Why is Cybersecurity Important?

Why is Cybersecurity Important?

30-Apr-2022

Cybersecurity is important for its critical role in safeguarding all types of data against theft and loss. There is no limit to the extent of the application of cyber security. Starting from personal information to sensitive data, protected health information to personally identifiable information, government and industry information systems, all of which are massively benefiting from cyber security.

In the absence of a cyber security program in this modern-day world, it goes without saying that your company or organization is at the risk of cyber attack and will be unable to defend against data breach operations.

Worldwide connectivity and the adoption of cloud services like Amazon web services housing personal information and sensitive data have prompted the rise in inherent as well as residual risks. Chances of firms falling prey and victim to cyber-attacks and data breaches are on a constant rise. This can be attributed to the widespread lack of efficient configuration in cloud services and the growing dynamics of smart cybercriminals.

Cybercriminals are equally evolving and metamorphosing into smarter minds. The techniques they employ are attaining higher resiliency in comparison with the traditional cyber defenses. It has come to a point where business leaders can no longer rely upon and settle with cyber security solutions like firewalls, and anti-virus software.

The emergence of cyber risks can be at any level of the organization. It should come as no surprise that the engagement of cyber security is no longer restricted to highly regulated industries as the number of data breaches is surging at a great rate. No organization whether small or big is immune from the irreversible damage and effects caused by the data breaches.

Let us ponder upon the importance of cyber security by taking into account the various aspects of cybercrime that may have little knowledge or that might have escaped your awareness.

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the phenomenon or process of preventing and recovering from cyber attacks on computer systems, networks, devices, and applications. Assailants are employing new ways shaped by Artificial Intelligence and social engineering to evade traditional data security protections, cyber attacks are becoming a more sophisticated and developing threat to your sensitive data.

The truth is that the world is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, and this trend will continue as we introduce the next generation of new technology, which will have access to our gadgets connected through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Intelligent cloud security mechanisms should be used in conjunction with strong password restrictions like multi-factor authentication to prevent illegal access to client data while embracing new technologies.

Outlining the Importance of Cybersecurity

The importance of cybersecurity is increasing. Essentially, the current era is more technologically reliant as compared to any other time. And this trend will continue to persist let alone slow down. There is open discussion and sharing on social media sites about any data breaches that indisputably caused identity theft. Cloud storage services now house sensitive and critical information ranging from personal social security numbers to banking can d credit card details.

Almost everyone is highly reliant on computer systems regularly whether an individual for personal use or small businesses or major companies.

Combining this emergence of cloud services with deficient services in the cloud with the surfacing of the internet of things and all things digital, we do recognize the surmounting security risks that had not existed in the previous decades.

All across the globe, there is increased attention from governments towards cybercrime and its ravaging effects. Take for instance- the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has raised the reputational harm caused by data breaches by requiring all EU-based businesses to:

Notify people about data breaches.
A data protection officer should be appointed.
Processing of data should entail the user's permission.
The practice of anonymizing data to protect one's privacy

The trend toward transparency isn't only a European phenomenon. Though there are no federal rules regarding data breach notification in the US, every one of the 50 states does have its own set of regulations.

The guidelines that are are on the similar lines are:

The earliest notification of those impacted is mandatory
Giving the government notice at the earliest
Pay a monetary penalty

In 2003, California became the first state to enforce data breach disclosures, requiring anyone affected to be notified "within a reasonable time" and "immediately following discovery." Victims can file a suit for up to USD 750 in damages, with companies facing fines of up to USD 7,500 per victim

Why is there a Spike in Cybercrime?

The fastest-growing type of cybercrime is the theft of personal information and the consequences of which are very costly. The increasing rate can be attributed to the high and easy availability of information of personal and identity on the internet through cloud services.

However, this alone is not the only case. If industrial systems are disrupted or destroyed, power grids and other systems can be harmed or destroyed. In order to establish distrust in an organization or government, cyber-attacks may aim to compromise data integrity.

Cybercriminals are becoming more adept, constantly altering their targets, affecting businesses, and employing different attack strategies against different security systems.

The most common sort of cyberattack is still social engineering, which is followed by phishing, ransomware, and spyware. Third-party and fourth-party providers who process your data and have insufficient cybersecurity practices are another common attack vector, making vendor risk management and third-party risk management even more important.

The average cost of cybercrime for a corporation has risen by $1.4 million to $13.0 million in the last year, according to the Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study, published by Accenture and the Ponemon Institute, while the average number of data breaches has increased by 11% to 145.

The importance of cyber security risk management has never been an urgent requirement and has never been greater.

Some other contributing causal factors for the increase in Cybercrimes can be listed below:

The scattered nature and vast expanse of the Internet
The complexity of policing and its challenges owing to the mass occurrence outside of their bound and jurisdiction
The immense profitability and simplicity of the dark web
The onset of the Internet of Things and the growth of digital and mobile devices

What is the Impact of Cybercrime?

The costs of cybercrime are highly influenced by numerous factors. However, all of the traced back to the poor attention to security measures and failure to enforce appropriate cyber security measures. Cybercrimes are expensive and will cost organizations in a lot of ways. Lacking attention to one's cyber security will thus remain a costly affair. We may list the impact of cybercrime in the following categories:

Costs of Production

Intellectual property theft, company information, trading disruptions, and the costs of fixing damaged systems are all factors to consider.

Cost of Reputation

Cybercrimes will result in a massive loss of a company's reputation. This will further lead to the loss of the consumer or client's trust and thus losing a large number of customer retention to competitors. Potential customers might even change their minds and could retract their commitment to your organization. Additionally, media coverage is not going to shy away from serving such hot gossip and such reputational loss.

Costs of Regulation

As there are regulations and laws laid out by the GDPR concerning cyber security measures and other data breach rules, organizations that fail to enforce a robust security measure may face regulatory fines that will be a big blow to their revenue.

Regardless of their size, all businesses must ensure that all employees are informed of cybersecurity risks and how to avoid them. Regular training and the work structure should be a component of this, with the purpose of lowering the risk of information leaks or breaches.

It's impossible to calculate the direct and indirect costs of many security breaches because of the complexity of cybercrime and how difficult it can be to detect. This isn't to say that even a little data breach or other security incidents won't have a significant reputational impact.

How to Protect Your Business From Cybercrime

Lowering the risk to fall victim to cybercrime entails the following few simple measures:

Educate Employees: Human error was responsible for 90% of data breaches in 2019. However, there is a bright side that we can look forward to. The majority of data breach instances might be avoided if employees were taught how to recognize and respond to cyber threats. Such instructional programs could also boost the value of any cybersecurity solution investments by preventing employees from unwittingly circumventing costly security safeguards to aid criminals.

Safeguard Your Personal Information: Invest in tools that restrict data loss, monitor third-party and fourth-party vendor risk, and scan for data leakage and compromised credentials on a regular basis. Untreated issues will further exacerbate the issue by empowering attackers to access networks of the organization and steal critical information. It's critical to have a data leak detection solution that can also monitor leaks across the third-party network.

Almost 60% of data theft is caused by compromised third-party suppliers, so closing down vendor data leaks can prevent the majority of data breaches.

Implement a Third-Party Risk Management: As part of a larger cyber security risk assessment strategy, use technology to cut costs, such as automatically sending out vendor evaluation questionnaires.

It is not the time for companies to be questioning why is cyber security important but should focus on ensuring cyber security procedures and checking if such measures are in compliance with GDPR and several other regulations.

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