Taking proactive measures to avoid cybersecurity threats is extremely important as they continuously become more sophisticated and expensive to deal with. In order to deal with these threats and protect their businesses, it is important for companies to fully know about them. Continuing from our last segment, here is part 2 of the top cybersecurity threats in 2022 :
With the Covid pandemic, another trend that emerged was the increase in usage of mobile devices. Remote users rely heavily on mobile devices and pandemic experts also encouraged people to use mobile wallets and contactless payment technologies to restrict germ transmission. This larger group of mobile users presented a larger target for cybercriminals.
According to Checkpoint Software’s Mobile Security Report, over 2021, 46% companies have experienced a cybersecurity breach because of a malicious application being downloaded by employees on company mobile phones.
As the global workforce shifted from the office to working from home where 70% of households have at least one smart device. Naturally, attacks on smart or “Internet of Things” devices spiked as a result with over 1.5 billion breaches occurring between January and June of 2021.
It is predicted that the number of smart devices ordered will double between 2021and 2025, creating a wider network of access points that can be used to breach personal and corporate systems.
While there is nothing new about ransomware attacks, they’ve become more expensive to deal with in recent times; between 2018 and 2020, the average ransom fee skyrocketed from $5,000 to $200,000. Ransomware attacks also cost companies a lot in the form of income lost while hackers hold system access for ransom.
Ransomware has only become more sophisticated and widely available as well as more convenient for hackers over time. In fact, now cybercriminals are able to subscribe to “ransomware-as-a-service” providers, which allow users to deploy pre-developed ransomware tools to execute attacks in exchange for a percentage of all ransom payments.
Every 4 years, the data generated by consumers doubles but more than half of the data is never used. Piles of data leads to confusion which leaves data vulnerable to cyber attacks. Data handling mistakes can lead to huge losses, for example - in a 2018 case, Aetna was ordered to pay $17 million after mailing sensitive health information in the wrong type of envelope.
In a 2021 survey of 1263 companies that had been targeted in a cybersecurity breach, 80% of victims said they experienced another attack soon after. This goes to show that holes need to be patched immediately after a cybersecurity attack. In fact 60% of cyber attacks could have been prevented if an available patch had been applied and 39%of organisations say they were aware of their vulnerabilities before the cyber attack took place.
As the threats to cybersecurity increase in number and intensity, it is becoming more and more important for organisations to invest in the best protective measures and this also means great cybersecurity talent. Savant has a Cloud practice with a wide network of cloud security experts. We can support you with the best talent in the industry that can be technically vetted through our partnerships with experts and market-leading onboarding advice and consultation. To know more about how we can assist you, please reach out to us at - technology@savantrecruitment.com
