We live in a world that is networked together, where the digital age continues to evolve and dominate and where crime is now as much virtual as it physical. The AI that we saw featured in 80’s sci-fi movies is now tangible, and we face a very real threat to our systems, data and software from virtual cyber bullies. Your cyber security is one of the MOST crucial issues that need to be addressed by your business.
Are you at risk from a Cyber Attack?
Dr Bo Yuan, professor and chair of the department of computing security at Rochester Institute of Technology was right when he said cyber hackers need us to make errors to accidentally create those gaps that they can then penetrate. In an analysis of threats faced by organisations in the first quarter of 2017 it revealed that cyber attackers still rely heavily on user interaction. For instance, in 2017 the CEO of Equifax attributed the company’s 2017 breach—which comprised the data of over 147 million consumers and could cost over $600 million—to good old human error.
Yuan continues, “For those who do not work in IT but use computing devices for work, it is necessary to have cybersecurity training so that they understand how minor mistakes or simple oversights might lead to a disastrous scenario regarding the security or bottom line of their organization,” “With attacks becoming more advanced and sophisticated, training is mission-critical to minimize human error from the cyberattack equation.”
In short, anyone can be affected by a cyber-attack, the fact is we can’t protect everything, so we must find ways to protect what we can.
Prevention is Key
The Benjamin Franklin axiom that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as true today as it was when Franklin made the quote. As a rule, IT departments in businesses have historically focused heavily on perimeter network security. This approach whilst effective for data moving towards the protective assets, isn’t effective in combating advanced persistent threats. Scott Manson, Cybersecurity Lead at Cisco states “by focusing on more proactive and offensive approaches, rather than strictly defensive, that help detect and respond to possible threats rather than react, it is possible to stop threats before they expose the organisation to risk,” he continues “your security setup will need to focus on detection, response and remediation.”
With predictions from Cisco that as many as 1 million new connections per hour in homes and companies will be added to the IoT by 2020, the threat with be significantly expanded with IoT moving from being seen as a significant security risk to a critical part of an Enterprises security posture.
Moving forward…
Scott says “to meet security challenges of the IoT- an attack surface that is both growing rapidly and becoming increasingly difficult to monitor and manage, therefore we must take a dynamic, proactive approach to security,” Scott continues that we can do this by layering our defence strategies, this way we have an increased likelihood of mitigating an attack.
This involves; strategic advisory consulting, incident response, design and deploy services to cloud and managed security services.
Are you secure?
VitrX works with leading cyber security specialist that have the expertise to help you stay ahead of cyber criminals. Giving you access to security services that enable you to activate global intelligence and innovate without introducing risk, speak to one of our experts to see how secure your business is and what you can do to prevent a cyber attack.
