Why Your Business Should Invest in Cybersecurity in 2020

If you don’t have it already, there is no doubt that you will need a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for 2020. To find out more about the upcoming threats and how you can negate them, take a look at the tips and advice in the post underneath. Understanding the following could save your company massive amounts of money while maintaining your solid reputation.

The Reality Of Threats In 2020

To put the need for cybersecurity software into perspective, it’s vital to look at the statistics. Unfortunately, they don’t make for pleasant reading if you are a company that doesn’t take cybercrime seriously. 

Did you know that breaches in 2019 exposed over 4 billion records in the first half of the year? And, the size of the organization doesn’t matter too much as 71% of leaks are financially motivated. As a result, hackers will gladly target small and medium-sized companies to gain access to their accounts. Conglomerates might have more resources from which to steal, but SMEs are easier targets – on average, only 5% of businesses’ folders are appropriately protected.

The fact is that hackers and remote thieves are getting smarter and more brazen. In 2018, 62% of businesses experienced phishing or social engineering attacks. In 2020, the number is expected to rise by a significant percentage. There’s a reason that more than two-thirds of companies believe their cybersecurity risks are increasing – it’s because they are.

How Cybersecurity Threats Will Continue In 2020

Emails Will Put Companies In Danger

The phishing industry is vast and shows no signs of stopping. And, there is no reason for it to slow thanks to the use of email technology in global businesses. At the moment, more than 200 billion emails are sent every day, which is a big pool of potential players. All it takes is one prize fish. The increased popularity of email blasts and using email accounts as insights into customers’ buying patterns means that it only takes a single mistake. Considering 30% of phishing emails make it past security, the odds aren’t in your favor.

Attacks Will Be IoT-Based

The IoT is the Internet of Things. In homes and businesses, it’s used to connect devices and people so that sharing and disseminating information is more straightforward. Sadly, the IoT is a cybersecurity risk as it opens backdoors that connect to your server. Using these weak entry points, a hacker can gain access to bank and user account details and steal money and identities. In 2020, there is expected to be 25 million IoT devices in the workplace.

Employees Will Play A Part

One of the worst things about cybersecurity is that your employees will contribute to leaks and breaches. Why? It’s because they are sloppy. Similar to connected devices, employees have accounts that are linked to the company’s server. If they are not adequately protected, such as using strong passwords, a thief can exploit them to their advantage. Internal security breaches have a strong connection with email technology as email accounts are typically vulnerable.

The Risks To Your Company

Once a hacker targets your business and gains access, the risks can be severe. Here is a selection of them.

• Data leak: Leaking data means that the business loses the trust of its customers and clients. Suddenly, the people who you need to keep the company running get skeptical about staying loyal. Even large organizations suffer, the best example being Uber and its multiple data breaches.

• Lawsuits: Of course, a direct consequence of a breach is a lawsuit. Depending on the severity of the leak, customers and clients might decide to file for loss of earnings. This is almost certain to happen if hackers obtain their credit card information and use their details to commit fraud. Privacy concerns are enough to interest a judge, too. Again, fighting a court battle isn’t healthy for your reputation; plus, it’s a waste of money, which is a valuable resource.

• Held to ransom: Quite literally, ransomware holds companies to ransom by encrypting their files and demanding money or assets in return for decrypting them. Aside from the financial impact, there is down and offline time to consider, as well as implications to productivity. However, the main concern is that the hacker keeps their word and doesn’t delete the files after getting paid.

• Compliance Issues: Failure to comply with government regulations such as HIPAA, PCI, GDPR, FINRA, and more can lead to stiff penalties if you’re found to be out of compliance during a breach. There’s even new regulations being passed like the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) which requires companies who do business with the Defense Department to be “cybersecurity certified” by the federal government before they can even provide service. With security threats growing every year, it’s quite likely we’ll see this trend in mandatory compliance regulations continue. 

How Can You Negate The Threats?

There are plenty of options, but the most cost effective technique is to outsource your cybersecurity requirements to a Managed Security Service Provider. With a reputable partner by your side, you can trust that we will develop a stringent plan that is tailored to your needs. 

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/why-your-business-should-invest-in-cybersecurity-in-2020/