It is no secret that cyber attacks are an increasing threat that no business can afford to overlook. Both a natural byproduct and competition, the number of cyber criminals who threaten systems, companies and all who live off of the data the company stores increases as companies go digital. The average cost of a data breach now being more than $4.8 million, they’ve never been higher.
The reason no industry is privileged is that the lack of a solid cybersecurity strategy is a must for companies of all sizes. No system is impenetrable, but there are many things that businesses can do to make their defense hard, making their risk of attack very small and hence reducing any potential damages. This article explores the reasons why cybersecurity has to be an integral part of any business plan, what are the common attack vectors and how to protect your network using common and effective safeguards, and advice on how to implement a multi-layer protection strategy to mitigate your organization’s specific risks.
The Threat Landscape is Expanding Exponentially
Cyber attacks are sharply on the rise for several reasons:
- Internet connectivity has vastly increased attack surfaces available to hackers around the globe. There are now over 5.56 billion Internet users worldwide and 15 billion Internet-connected devices. This ubiquity provides criminals with an endless supply of potential targets.
- Attackers have more financial, political and social motivations driving their activities. Cybercrime is immensely profitable; state-sponsored groups target trade secrets and critical infrastructure, and hacktivists push agendas via digital sabotage.
- A vibrant cybercrime underground offers malicious tools, services, and infrastructure that are available for purchase or rental. This lowers barriers to entry and allows less sophisticated actors to launch advanced attacks. Resources that once only the most elite hackers possessed are now available to anyone for the right price.
- Cyber attacks are becoming more possibilities and vectors for the disruption caused by the advent of sheer disruptive technologies. As old as security controls are, trends such as cloud computing, mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, and artificial intelligence create new ‘infiltration’ points and methods that are beyond the reach of traditional security controls.
With growing incentives and an environment conducive to malicious hacking, it’s no surprise that attacks are escalating at an exponential rate. As risks intensify, companies without a cyber risk management plan are playing with fire. To learn more about current cybersecurity trends, click here.
The Business Impact of Cyber Attacks is Severe
Though cyber-attacks may seem abstract or hypothetical to some business leaders, they manifest in very real and devastating ways. The business impact of falling victim includes:
Financial Loss
Cybercrime is extremely expensive, with the global price tag estimated at $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Costs incurred from an attack include:
- Ransom payments to recover encrypted data and systems
- Revenue and productivity losses from business disruption
- IT expenses for incident response, forensic analysis and systems recovery
- Regulatory fines, legal liabilities and settlement costs
- Higher cyber insurance premiums
Reputational Damage
Data breaches are now front-page news, eroding consumer and stakeholder trust. According to one survey, 31% of customers would terminate their relationship after a single breach. The resulting churn lowered sales, and tarnished brand value can hinder companies for years.
Intellectual Property Theft
Hackers often target trade secrets, product designs, source code and other intellectual property, which can undermine a company’s competitive advantage when stolen. The US alone loses $600 billion annually from IP theft.
Safety and Security Risks
Access to operational systems can allow hackers to manipulate critical infrastructure in manufacturing plants, utilities, hospitals and other facilities. This threatens employee safety, national security interests and public welfare.
With profits, competitiveness and safety on the line, companies must invest in cybersecurity not just as an IT issue but as an enterprise-wide business priority. As attacks become the norm, those failing to prepare are courting disaster.
Understanding the Main Attack Vectors Targeting Businesses
Hacking methods are constantly evolving, but most cyber attacks utilize one of several common vectors to infiltrate a company’s networks and systems:
Phishing
The most prevalent and successful attack vector is phishing, which uses social engineering tricks to compromise employee credentials and gain initial access. Phishing attacks typically distribute fraudulent emails, chat messages or phone calls, impersonating trusted sources to trick victims into clicking malicious links, opening attachments or disclosing sensitive information.
Third Parties and Vendors
Hackers are increasingly targeting companies through their suppliers and partners down the supply chain. This allows them to exploit weaker security postures indirectly associated with the main organization.
Software Vulnerabilities
Even with the best efforts, flaws exist in complex business applications that allow attackers to exploit. Easy access is provided by failure to patch known system vulnerabilities in a timely manner.
Infected Websites
Websites compromised to distribute malware can be used to infiltrate company networks when employees visit the sites for business needs.
Insiders
Trusted employees with malicious intent or who fall victim to social engineering represent the highest security risk since they bypass many perimeter defenses. Insiders may abuse credentials, manipulate data, or even sabotage systems.
Physical Access
If attackers can gain physical access to company facilities, they can directly connect to the corporate LAN and bypass many network security layers. Social engineering tactics, such as tailgating, often assist with unauthorized physical access.
Proactive Cyber Defense – A Layered Security Approach
A single product, a single action, unfortunately, provides only a small amount of protection for a company, often with myriad possible attack vectors. The secret is to build a holistic strategic defense around security layers across people, processes and technology. Examples of components of a robust cyber strategy include:
Governance
Define security roles, decision-making bodies and oversight responsibilities in an organizational framework. This gives a structure for their deployment and enforcement of security policies, standards and controls throughout the business.
Risk Management
Perform frequent risk assessments and estimate the possible business impact of any potential threat to the key assets. It facilitates better prioritization and focuses on security spending to secure the most critical systems at risk.
Policies and Training
For workplace systems and devices, policies on security and acceptable use should be set up. And make cybersecurity awareness training mandatory to let employee know when they hear what threats exist and how to protect their data. A human firewall needs to undergo ongoing education.
Access Controls
Manage access to systems and data via identity and access management (IAM) solutions enforcing the principles of least privilege and separation of duties. Strictly limit access to sensitive systems to only authorized personnel.
Infrastructure Security
Products to safeguard networks and servers, applications and endpoints include firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), threat intelligence services, antivirus software, and file integrity monitoring capability.
Incident Response
They also need to establish incident response plans clearly, that is, have plans that define in detail how to detect, analyze, contain and recover from cyber attacks in a timely fashion. It is aimed at limiting damages and preventing future recurrence.
Third-Party Assurance
Establish a comprehensive risk assessment before engagement with partners and vendors and contractual security obligations in order to extend security measures to partners and vendors. Access and activity monitoring helps manage third-party risks.
Adapting Security for Emerging Risks
As technology and threats advance, the cybersecurity lifecycle must be continuous. Regularly re-evaluate the threat landscape for developments like shifts toward mobile, cloud or IoT environments. Prioritize understanding new attack vectors and security capabilities in these areas. Consider cybersecurity from the initial design phase when undergoing digital transformation and implementing disruptive technologies supporting the business.
Executing a Comprehensive Cybersecurity Program
While many solutions compose robust cybersecurity, realizing maximum benefit requires careful planning and execution spanning people, processes and technology. Critical steps to implement a cyber risk management strategy include:
Obtain Buy-In Across the Organization
Cybersecurity is an organization-wide imperative that requires involvement from the top down and the bottom up. Priorities, plans, and responsibilities for all stakeholders at every level should be communicated clearly so that they are supported and participate.
Conduct Security Assessments
Start by conducting risk assessments, audits and pen tests on the network, apps, endpoints and business operations to determine vulnerabilities. This analysis helps frame strategic priorities to fill security gaps and address compliance issues, both internal and external.
Define Policies and Controls
Develop suitable (craft) security policies such as acceptable use, password management, access restrictions and an incident response suited for your environment. Combine these with technical controls at layers to ensure that assets are protected according to the set policies.
Integrate Security Within Operations
Embed security staff and considerations within key business operations like product development, IT system administration, human resources, procurement, finance and customer service. This bridges security with critical functions.
Support Security Tools and Awareness
Provide security teams the technologies, training, support and headcount necessary to monitor defenses, investigate issues, respond to incidents and educate employees on cyber hygiene and policies through regular training.
Validate Through Testing
Continuous testing of security posture is conducted through runs like penetration tests, attack simulation, disaster recovery drills, and testing of adherence to the policy. Verification tests ensure that the controls perform as intended and strengthen deficiencies.
Instilling Cybersecurity into Business Culture
Ultimately, cyber risk management is only as successful as the organizational culture supporting it. While no framework, training or tool eliminates all risk, companies can engineer resilience by making security a collective responsibility across every department, every employee and all third-party connections. By rallying the entire organization to uphold safety standards, avoid unnecessary exposure and respond swiftly to contain incidents, businesses gain agility to withstand disruptive cyber events. Just as culture shapes so many priorities, every leader must nurture a culture valuing cyber risk management as vital to long-term competitiveness and sustainability.
The role of cybersecurity, therefore, stretches far beyond the IT department to the very fabric defining how a company operates and makes decisions. There is ultimately no substitute for making cyber risk considerations ingrained in all facets of operations.
Conclusion
Keeping up with the pace of cyber threats increasing in scale and complexity is not an option; it must become an integral part of a company’s strategic initiative or be very costly. There is no doubt that attacks are part and parcel of running a business, and yet businesses can avoid most of these threats by employing a layered protection strategy that covers all weaknesses found in the people, processes and technology. When cybersecurity is executed well, it becomes a core competitive advantage, and your business is an undesirable target. It is ready to quickly and contain incidents and is well positioned to take market share from competitors struggling with disruptive breaches. Cyber risk management has become mandatory in the climate of threats on all sides for success.