As we move through the fourth quarter of 2022, investing in cybersecurity is now more important than ever. Global digitalization, market recession, increased use of mobile phones, and other factors affect how high the number of successful attacks can be.
This year has been tough for many organizations, especially those who didn’t use cybersecurity practices to increase their security posture. For example, according to Statista, internet users globally saw approximately 15 million data breaches only during the third quarter of 2022, which is 167 percent compared to the previous quarter.
The reason why companies ignore cybersecurity is that they don’t know why it should be considered the top priority. Let’s explore this below.
Increased Use of Mobile Phones
Since 2019 people have started to use phones for almost everything from shopping to visiting a healthcare provider. While it obviously became a great chance for companies to gain revenue through digitalization and people love this convenience, hackers also decided to use this innovation. As a result, the most common type of attack is related to mobile phones, where attackers can easily steal information from users’ devices. And it could be their personal information or data about your company.
Mobile devices are particularly vulnerable thanks to these factors:
- Most new devices are fairly unprotected;
- The small size of mobile phones makes them prone to get stranded in airports and cities, increasing the risk of attack;
- Malware attacks can easily embed themselves via Wi-Fi;
- The human factor, means people tend to share their personal information via social media.
Boost Customer Loyalty & Awareness Among Investors
Having an efficient cyber security system and security team in place is a strong selling point. Even if your company doesn’t face any attacks, you have shown how you prepare for them; you will differentiate your business when it comes to customer acquisition and retention. If you can guarantee that your company protects users’ and stakeholders’ information, you will be an appealing option for investors as well.
Not Having Security Comes at a High Cost
Regardless of the industry, you work in, company size, services, and products you offer, cybersecurity is an essential element to invest in. That is because not having it will cost you thousands and millions. Aside from the costs you will pay from legal systems; you will also lose customers and investors in case of a successful attack.
The cost of data breaches is much higher than most companies can expect. In fact, most organisations won’t be able to survive a successful attack. If your business does not have an operating cybersecurity team, you may want to invest in regular cybersecurity practices like penetration testing to make sure you have a strong security posture.
Exposes You to Regulatory Actions
Since companies ignore obvious reasons why they should invest in cybersecurity, governments become responsible. As a result, since March 1st 2017, the introduction of cybersecurity regulations became official in most US states, where organisations based in New York must have cybersecurity in place thanks to their world’s largest business capitals. So if you become a victim of cyber security breaches, it can subject you to various regulatory reviews forcing organisations to comply with regulations and audits.
How to Boost Cybersecurity in 2023
Work-From-Home Cybersecurity Become a Norm
Since COVID-19 caused isolation, businesses moved to remote work. Even though restrictions have been removed, most companies still work remotely or at least have a hybrid format of work. Anyway, everyone knows that remote employees, specifically their devices, are not as protected from hackers as at the office.
Since companies prefer remote work now, they have to protect their employees and their data by burning work-from-home cybersecurity policies. This may include updating software regularly, installing trusted antiviruses, not sharing any personal information, storing keys and logins in different places and more. Companies know that remote workers will become an easy target of attackers, so this security becomes a norm instead of a preference.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has a Crucial Role in Cybersecurity
Since the number of cyberattacks is growing rapidly, it becomes harder for companies and cybersecurity experts to react to attacks and predict where the most dangerous attacks may happen. That is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into the picture. Machine learning algorithms are now widely used to examine a large amount of data that moves across networks in real-time, which is far more intelligent and faster compared to humans.
In addition, these algorithms can also learn to recognise patterns that indicate a threat, reducing the risks of successful attacks and allowing companies to be more proactive. Experts predict that the market for AI cybersecurity will reach $139 billion – a near tenfold increase in the value of the 2021 market.
Educating About Cybersecurity
Human factors are currently the biggest vulnerability for businesses. Almost every business has users, and every employee has a phone or any other gadget. Regardless of the industry you work in, the size of the company and other factors, your employees can easily click on a malware link or open a dangerous file, leading to massive data breaches.
No matter how you protect your business and what practices you use, you will still be at high risk of a successful attack if your employees don’t know about their personal cybersecurity. That is why companies now create education programs, teaching staff about things they may not have noticed before and how to efficiently protect their phones from attacks.
