Consider your cybersecurity strategy now

Last year, there were more data breaches and cyber attacks on companies, governments, and individuals than ever before.

The sophistication of threats has also increased due to the application of emerging technologies like machine learning and 5G, and because of greater tactical cooperation among hacker groups and nation state actors.

By not regularly reviewing and assessing your cybersecurity strategy, you are leaving your organisation open to a multitude of complex threats. Here we look at what exactly we mean by cybersecurity and demonstrate the risks of not evolving your organisation's approach and strategy.

What is cybersecurity?
According to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Cyber security is how individuals and organisations reduce the risk of cyber attack. Cyber security's core function is to protect the devices we all use (smartphones, laptops, tablets and computers), and the services we access - both online and at work - from theft or damage. It's also about preventing unauthorised access to the vast amounts of personal information we store on these devices, and online.

Why are attacks increasing?
New ways of working and an increase in remote working and the subsequent use of non-centrally controlled networks, how we use technology and new types of threat - such as ransomware - mean that attacks are increasing in both frequency and sophistication.

A lot is changing and quickly, which means that your cybersecurity must continually evolve to keep your organisation protected.

What are the costs of cyber attacks?
The average cost of a ransomware attack is £130k on a mid-size business (Source: Gartner) and this number is growing. It’s also worth mentioning that the costs aren’t solely monetary, there is also reputational damage, loss of business time and assets, data breaches and subsequent GDPR fines, all of which can impact your business.

How have other businesses been affected?

Irish Health Service Executive (HSE)

The HSE provides health and social care to five million people and after a recent ransomware attack, where more than 80% of its IT infrastructure was affected, it took around 5 months for all their computer servers to be back online.

Kaseya

This IT solutions developer for managed service providers (MSPs) suffered a far-reaching ransomware attack. Estimates suggested that 800-1500 small to medium-sized companies may have been compromised through their MSP.

Travelex

More recently was the cyber-attack on Travelex. The initial attack cost over $200 million and shut the entire network down for 14 days before they could get their systems back online. They further went on to lose over $47 million in revenue, took a huge hit to their reputation and in turn affected their global partners such as HSBC.