Why Cyber Attacks Are Skyrocketing & How to Protect Business

According to cybersecurity statistics, hackers attack every 39 seconds, and 43% of these cyber attacks target small businesses. What’s even worse is that the average cost of a data breach comes down to a whopping $3.9 million. Even though businesses are spending an exorbitant amount of money to protect their digital assets, $6 trillion to be exact, hackers seem to have an upper hand as they find new ways to break into even the most secure systems.

How can you protect your business from these attacks under such a situation? The first thing you need to do is to identify the root cause of the problem and then find ways to secure your business from these attacks.

Read on to discover the top 3 reasons for the rapid rise of cyberattacks and what you can do to mitigate the risks.

Key Takeaways

• Cyberattacks are increasing rapidly, with hackers launching attacks every 39 seconds, and small businesses accounting for 43% of all cyberattack targets.
• Remote work tools such as communication, collaboration, and video conferencing platforms can expose sensitive business data if they lack strong security controls.
• The widespread adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies creates security risks because personal devices often operate outside an organization’s security monitoring and controls.
• The growing number of IoT devices increases network complexity, making it harder for businesses to maintain visibility and secure every connected device.
• Businesses can reduce cybersecurity risks by using encryption, implementing mobile device management (MDM), enforcing security policies, and securing remote connections with VPNs.
• Adopting a Zero Trust security model, segmenting networks, and continuously monitoring for suspicious activity are effective strategies for protecting business systems and data from cyber threats.

3 Reasons Why Cyber Attacks are Increasing?

Here are the top three reasons why we are witnessing an exponential increase in the number of cybersecurity attacks.

1. Vulnerable Tools
2. Bring Your Own Device
3. Lack of IoT Insights

Let’s look at each one in detail.

1.   Vulnerable Tools

With more and more businesses embracing remote work, the set of tools has also changed. Video conferencing, collaboration, and communication tools have increased in popularity. The problem is that these tools are vulnerable to security loopholes that can easily be exploited by cybercriminals to gain access to your data.

What’s even worse is that these tools automatically store your chat history as well as all the files you share. If that sensitive information ends up in the wrong hands, it could mean serious ramifications for your business. Threat actors can use this information as a ladder to gain access to your network and other critical assets.

Use tools that are created with security in mind. Some of them offer security features to keep your conversation private. Even if they don’t, you can use encryption to encrypt files and messages before sending them to other team members. This will prevent hackers from seeing the contents of files and messages you are sending.

2.   Bring Your Own Device

According to BYOD statistics, 59% of organizations have already adopted the “bring your own device policy. 67% of employees bring their own devices to work. 87% of businesses are relying on their employees’ ability to access business apps from their phones.

This policy may bring convenience for employees, but from a security standpoint, these devices are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Since these devices lie outside the realm of your enterprise security, your IT team doesn’t have visibility into these devices. This makes it easy for cybercriminals to target and compromise those devices. What’s even worse is that these devices connect to unsecured wireless networks and contain malicious apps, which can put them at a higher risk.

Thankfully, there are ways to minimize the risk of BYOD. Here are some steps you need to take to secure BYOD devices.

• Control app permission and accessibility
• Create and implement security policies for all devices
• Define and convey acceptable user guidelines
• Use a mobile device management software
• Use VPN

3.   Lack of IoT Insights

According to IoT statistics, the number of IoT devices will almost triple from 8.74 billion in 2020  to 25.4 billion in 2030. As more and more businesses continue to adopt IoT devices, we will see the complexity of networks grow dramatically. This can result in a lack of visibility into all IoT devices.

Lack of physical hardening and security protocol for these devices makes them a soft target for hackers who can easily compromise ignored devices and use them to move laterally through your enterprise network. They can even use these devices for eavesdropping and espionage.

What’s The Solution?

The best way to secure your business from these attacks is to adopt a zero-trust model. Zero Trust is a security concept that revolves around the belief that organizations should not automatically trust anything, whether it is inside or outside their perimeters, and instead must verify anything and everything trying to connect to their networks and systems before allowing access.

The good news is that the majority of businesses have started moving in that direction already, and many more will follow soon. You can also segment your enterprise network into two parts and dedicate a segment for IoT devices. Implement network monitoring tools and constantly look out for suspicious behavior.

What, in your opinion, is the main reason behind the growing number of cyber attacks? What are you doing to protect your business from these attacks? Share it with us in the comments section below.