The dangers of cybersecurity are now greater than ever, owing to the dark web helping black-hat hackers and organized cyber warfares. Every day we hear about some ransomware attack on a company, or security breach in an intelligence organization, or attacks on power grids software.
The frequency of cyberattacks has increased exponentially. In fact, according to a study at the University of Michigan, every 39 seconds a hacker attacks a computer through the internet.
A few examples of recent attacks:
- On May 07, 2021, a ransomware cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline shook the United States. It disrupted a critical fuel supply to the East Coast for about a week. The Governor of Georgia and President Biden declared an emergency.
- The zero-day attacks targeted the vulnerability in the Microsoft Exchange on-premise servers. The attacks were conducted by a group called HAFNIUM. It is impacted through remote code execution and dubious network activities.
- In Jan 2021, Ubiquiti, an IoT device provider company, notified its users about a breach in their management system. In the following weeks, the impact started encompassing root credential losses for private encryption keys, databases, cloud services, and more.
- SolarWinds’ supply chain software attack in December 2020. The hackers manipulated the code in third-party software components to infect the apps that use them ‘downstream.’ They were able to avoid detection by using fraudulent certificates and validation tokens to infiltrate the system with identity proof.
If there was ever a time to take cybersecurity seriously, this is it!
The Attitude of Businesses Towards Ransomware Attacks
Some companies are making the fight against cyberattacks difficult. According to a study, 32 percent of ransomware victims (companies) in 2021 decided to pay up. Such behavior encourages more hackers to attack.
And, paying up to rescue your data and servers isn’t even helping. Only 8 percent of the companies who pay cyber-extortionists ever get their data back.
The attitude of business leaders towards ransomware attacks is an example of how cybersecurity and the response towards cyber-attacks are a cultural problem.
Business leaders have a responsibility to establish a culture resilient against black-hat hackers and miscreants.
The creation of a culture with a strong cybersecurity mindset entails both a broad industry-wide response by leaders to cyber threats and organizational readiness to respond to attacks.
The Responsibility of a Leader: Establish Cybersecurity Culture
When you are a business leader, different stakeholders around you would have different expectations from you. Many people have certain expectations when it comes to running a successful firm.
- Customers expect you to provide services while ensuring the security of their personal information.
- Employees need strong leadership and direction, especially in difficult times like the Covid-19.
- Regulatory agencies want you to follow a slew of data security guidelines.
- Investors want you to generate regular revenue and maintain consistency in your business operations.
A business leader must not only meet all of the aforementioned criteria but also establish a strong and distinct culture. Employees that are self-motivated to learn and improve their overall awareness of all aspects of the business. That includes, of course, cybersecurity.
Create a Culture of Collaboration for Knowledge and Learning
Fostering a company culture where people are mindful of cybersecurity can be a competitive advantage. A learning-oriented culture benefits both the company and the employees’ careers. Most importantly, if the learning involves collaboration and teamwork.
Increased cloud use and digitalization of business processes became necessary, during the epidemic, to facilitate remote working. Your first line of protection against cyber threats is the attentiveness and awareness of the people in your organization. Today, businesses require a more comprehensive and collaborative approach to cybersecurity.
IT security teams usually work in isolation. With fast digital transformation, however, every employee is now a node in ever-enlarging digital networks.
Companies should provide more comprehensive IT security training to their employees. Because employees would not only have the onus to protect their personally identifiable information (PII) but also critical information of the business and the customers.
People are the most vulnerable thread in the cybersecurity fabric. You’re only as strong as your weakest employee when fighting against cyberattacks. When you make your people resilient against cybercrimes, you become a trustworthy supplier and partner in the industry.
The Challenges in Front of the IT Teams
Despite people getting vaccinated, employees are opting for hybrid workplace environments with the flexibility of working from home more often.
IT teams must ensure that teams can function effectively from a distance, as well as monitor data and cybersecurity on a broad and complex mix of private networks where data is getting accessed. It’s also a good idea to use Secure Communication Solution to monitor employee performance and secure the devices on which they handle business and customer data.
Strengthening Cybersecurity: A Collaborative Effort
Cybersecurity is a team effort. When it comes to being resilient against impending cyberattacks, business leaders, top management, IT teams, and frontline workers must all be on the same page:
- Passwords protect and encrypt every possible device and network component in your organization and your private networks. Anything in the network can become a vector for malware, you never know!
- Enterprise IT teams should be proactive in checking for network vulnerabilities, especially of legacy systems.
- Always assume that a breach is going to happen soon and you have to be on your toes to prevent it. Companies need to take cybersecurity with a sense of urgency. They should review their security planning periodically and adopt industry best practices and protocols.
With the frequency of cyber-attacks and data breaches on the rise, there’s no reason for businesses to put off cybersecurity planning and budgeting. It is an investment to safeguard all of your assets as well as your business.
Final Thoughts
Smart business leaders dedicate their time to understand the cyber threats and procure the optimum solutions to ensure the security of their systems and data. And, slamming pricey technologies against cyber threats isn’t the greatest way to embed security into an organization’s culture.
If you can help every department of your company to perceive cybersecurity as a fundamental and eternal challenge, you are strengthening the weakest node (humans). Eventually, you will see that you don’t have to break the bank for cybersecurity.