Currently, cyber-attacks are growing at a faster pace, incurring huge losses to the companies globally. Reportedly, FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Report confirms that incidences of phishing, malware, extortion, non-payment, no-delivery scams, and other attacks increased by nearly 70% in 2020, resulting in a loss of $4.2 billion. Though the monetary costs of mitigating an attack are often steep, the unquantifiable damage to a victimized business reputation and brand can be disastrous.
Another recent survey by PwC revealed that nearly 90% of customers resist entering into deals with companies affected by data breaches. As consumers become more concerned with their data security, they’ll show little sympathy for companies that can’t keep it safe. Therefore, businesses that cannot enhance their cybersecurity are at risk of being forced to close their operations despite their types and sizes.
Cyberattacks is an illegal activity by which cybercriminals such as hackers access computer networks and systems, intending to destroy them. In other cases, cybercriminals could acquire data contained in those systems and use it for unethical purposes. Even with the constant evolution and steady advancement of cybersecurity practices, some critical weaknesses remain. Among these is that cybercriminals can too easily acquire new tools and techniques to access, infect, or steal sensitive information from organizational domains.
As the methods favoured by perpetrators become more sophisticated, fending them off has become increasingly difficult. This requires continuous surveillance across digital assets, including extensions into third-party supplier ecosystems. Ultimately, there is a mission-critical need for businesses to become more resilient with fail-safe cybersecurity.
Business owners, executives, and security leaders are constantly facing trade-offs regarding cybersecurity. An excessively complex cybersecurity program can hamper operational speed and agility and strain budgets. Product launches, mergers and acquisitions, and other mission-critical initiatives might be delayed as compliance teams conduct thorough certification checks and perform additional due diligence. Employee engagement and productivity could decrease due to extensive validation requirements. Customer experiences could be affected, putting companies at a significant disadvantage.
When companies approach cybersecurity as a weapon to combat threats, they’re setting themselves up for challenging times. Vulnerable systems and inefficient business processes are open to hackers, espionage activities, disgruntled associates, and other known and unknown adversaries. At the very least, trade-offs will affect operational resilience and create ongoing issues. Therefore, leaders must approach data privacy and cybersecurity as a strategic business imperative instead of settling for trade-offs that negatively impact businesses.
We have defined 5 steps to protect & secure our customers most valuable crown jewels i.e. confidential information and sensitive data:
Commit to continuous improvement
Operational resilience is a journey. We enable customers to aim for an acceptable baseline for cyber resilience, implement it, and continually improve by applying adaptive and agile security models and processes. They should adopt proven frameworks (e.g., zero trust) and governance models (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, and CIS 20) to ensure they have adequate controls in place and to minimize risks. A continually evolving cyber resilience model is the only viable defence mechanism against next-generation threats.
Manage third-party risks
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, various challenges have been seriously impacting business operations. For instance, the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains and forced businesses to find new ways of working together. Amid the shift to remote work, many organizations have given vendors unprecedented access to their business systems to ease the burdens of remote maintenance and monitoring. Risk-management practices should adapt to this shift. Third-party supplier risk-management practices should critically identify and manage risks across the complete value chain.
Extend governance to the cloud
The secure and compliant adoption of cloud services is a strategic imperative for companies now in the midst of digital transformation. A practical cloud governance framework would be characterized by attributes for data controls and compliance, plus security policies. It is essential for our customers to take advantage of cloud governance solutions now while it is a rapidly developing area.
Take advantage of advanced automation capabilities
Digital transformation initiatives pave the way to leverage robotic process automation and cybersecurity bots to step up and drive efficiencies. Automation models can efficiently design resilience plans for increasing threat of ransomware events. Companies that lag in automation tend to fall victim to emerging cyber threats more often than their peers who prioritize automating inefficient processes.
Leverage machine learning to detect and defend
Machine learning and automation concepts are mature capabilities available to design cyber-defence plans. Such investments in advanced solutions are crucial due to the persistent, ever-evolving nature of cyberattacks as we progress in 2022 and beyond. Hackers are more resourced, better coordinated, and increasingly aggressive each passing year. Thankfully, machine learning continues to evolve rapidly, and its future is well invested. Endpoint detection and response solutions are examples of machine learning used for cybersecurity detection and defence. Machine learning also facilitates real-time remediation and control through automated policy enforcement, a key component of sound cybersecurity.
Ultimately, cyberattacks can impose severe consequences to any business institution. Advancement in technology continues for both businesses and cybercriminals, meaning just as one attains a strong position, the other will gain a foothold and leap over their opponent.
To maintain a winning position in cyber governance, a progressive cyber resilience strategy must be holistic in its approach. Procedures of combining traditional concepts with new advancements in technology are vital and organizations must not only invest in defence, but meticulously test its efficacy through frequent exposure assessments and recovery drills. It’s the surest, safest way forward.
INSPIRA, along with its esteemed OEM partners, thrive to provide cyber resilience in their customer journey. Along with all other value propositions, we are building an Incident Response & Forensic lab closer in our Dubai Cyber Fusion Centre.
