The pandemic has escalated and intensified so many parts of our lives, not least of all being our dependence on technology. And hackers have taken note.
Now more than ever, and in increasingly creative ways, hackers are attempting to steal our data, infect it with malware, and generally get access to places they do not belong. In 2020, a new cyber-attack was initiated every 40 seconds, and 25,000 different malicious applications were detected every day. And if that isn’t enough, these statistics stand to get worse as hackers, and the tactics they use, become more and more sophisticated.
No Two Organizations are the same
But yet they all have one thing in common – they are at risk of a cyber security attack. The organizations that are ahead of the curve are those that have a cybersecurity preparedness plan that not only identifies the potential risks, but also what makes their organization unique and potentially vulnerable.
So how can you prepare? Each organization has a one-of-a-kind blend of security, cost, convenience, processes and technology which must be considered when creating a cybersecurity plan. The more a plan can be tailored to the specific attributes of an organization, the more protection it will have from an attack.
Cyber Resilience
There are many steps that can be taken to protect an organization against cyber-attacks, but even so, there is no such state as “fully-secure”. So instead of setting an unattainable goal, you should focus on being cyber resilient. Cyber resilience measures how effectively your business can maintain operations while simultaneously managing a cyber-attack or data breach.
Cyber resilience ensures that your business can continue as normal after you discover a breach. To achieve this, you can and should be introducing automation into processes when possible, making sure systems are regularly updated and backed up, and bringing a proactive mindset to protection efforts. And of course, having a comprehensive cyber insurance policy is also critical to a sound Cyber Resilience and Risk Management program.
Reasonableness standard
Another important question to ponder when it comes to cyber readiness is if your organization meets the reasonableness standard. In other words, if your organization was required to undergo a regulatory investigation, would you be doing enough? You must ensure that the cybersecurity practices you have in place are reasonable for an organization of similar size and scope and that you are doing enough to ensure the safety of your employees, clients and data.
Conclusion
As time goes on and technology continues to evolve, security threats will continue to be one step ahead and hackers will continue to become more creative. For example, zero-click-risk attacks have recently surfaced and are not going anywhere anytime soon. With that being said, you can’t give in! You must remain focused on efforts to mitigate risks for your organization by staying on top of cybersecurity threats as they emerge.
Today, October 1st, marks the first day of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In attempts to do our part, JKJ will be doing a 5-part blog series to spread awareness and information on the importance of cybersecurity.
