Cybersecurity has made its way into top-level business meetings and requires immediate attention. A few decades ago, the traditional business model shifted to e-commerce platforms, recently amplified by the Covid-19 lockdown. The rapid expansion of the Internet was taken for granted, leaving its security years behind.
The impact on all-size businesses is enormous. For example, ransomware poses operation-halting threats to the healthcare industry or natural gas companies. Simultaneously, the ransom went up from several thousand to millions, with small-to-medium businesses affected the most.
Moreover, human error is still the weakest link in any cybersecurity chain. Here’s what you should consider if you want to protect your enterprise against cyber threats in 2023.
Supply-Chain Attacks
Supply-chain attacks are an emerging cyber threat that exploits the intertwined software development landscape. Instead of developing their own software, most businesses choose third-party solutions. It’s an affordable and timely way to introduce new features without vast investments.
However, relying on third parties comes at a price. A devastating Solarwinds hack gave Russian cybercriminals a window to the US cybersecurity, Government, and Treasury Departments. The political ramifications cannot be overstated, but many eyes turned to private business security.
The hackers broke into US-based software development company SolarWinds and introduced malicious code into its “Orion” software, used to manage IT resources. Any company using “Orion” – including Microsoft – fell victim to the highly sophisticated cyber attack. What does it mean for businesses?
Enterprises that use third-party software should expect more regulations. For example, if a business works closely with the US government, they have to guarantee its third-party software maintains the highest quality standards. The same logic applies to all businesses: you should consider any third party as an entry point to your data and demand up-to-date cybersecurity solutions for further cooperation.
Failing to Secure Your Business
A successful cyber attack can hurt your business in three ways: financial, legal, and reputational.
Financial damages will cover ruined equipment, revenue loss due to halted operations, R&D and innovations data leak, direct financial theft, trading disruption, and system restoration. Cybersecurity experts advise having at least some insurance or additional funds to deal with the immediate cyber attack consequences. Furthermore, setting up data backups and Firewalls beforehand can prevent numerous financial damages.
Lawmakers are stepping up and continuously releasing regulations to fix the current e-commerce mess. If your business handles European user data (many modern businesses do), you must adhere to strict GDPR guidelines. Failing to do so will guarantee hefty fines and a long legal process. For example, Meta is still paying for its part in the Cambridge Analytica scandal more than a decade after the incident.
Lastly, reputation damages can be the most severe. If you fail to secure your client’s data, they will choose another, more reliable company. Furthermore, people tend to remember unfortunate accidents, so failing cybersecurity once can set you back for decades—reputational loss results in lower sales and profits and a loss of customers.
Forming a Robust Cybersecurity Strategy
Even though cybersecurity is a time-consuming and costly procedure, the first steps don’t have to be. The best way to go is to hire a dedicated specialist, but there are a few things you can do yourself.
Firstly, guarantee the security of customer data. Instead of storing it in unprotected personal servers, subscribe to secure Cloud storage services. You will save some money on server upkeep. What’s more, their cybersecurity experts use sophisticated data encryption algorithms to protect them against data leaks.
Currently, human error causes a majority of cyber incidents. Many employees still lack the basic cybersecurity knowledge and fall victim to numerous Phishing scams. Many cybersecurity professionals offer effective and affordable cybersecurity training that includes:
- Phishing protection;
- Password management;
- Business-data security;
- Remote-work security;
- Safe browsing habits.
These are the basics of online safety, but they are crucial to nearly all current workforce. Furthermore, hackers often look for the easiest targets, so even the most basic protection methods will have positive outcomes.
To summarize, current cyber threats will have a favorable impact because more and more companies will implement security solutions. However, it’s best to take the initiative now because the situation will get a little worse before it gets better.