Cyber Security: why you should take it very seriously

Cyber security is an issue that seems to be more prevalent in the news now than ever before. International cyber-attacks on national infrastructures from hostile states seem to be on the increase, as does cyber crime and online hacking from malicious and criminal entities out to defraud individuals and organisations – something that has seen huge growth since the start of the pandemic.

The latest research shows that cyber-attacks now occur at a rate of around one every 19 seconds. These attacks can affect anyone – particularly the unwary and uninformed. This means that if you have an internet-connected device, you are at risk.

The increasing amount of personal and sensitive data now stored online and on internet connected devices means that this should be of real concern to everyone. Most businesses are entrusted with the personal data of employees, clients, customers and other third parties, and it is their duty to ensure that this information is kept safe and secure.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), businesses have a legal duty to make sure any personal data they have on file is kept as secure as possible, and large fines can be imposed if this is not the case.

As well as an unwanted cyber-attack potentially jeopardising your organisation’s day-to-day running and productivity, any breach could lead to loss of revenue, loss of assets, and leave you in serious trouble if the data you are holding negatively affects someone who has entrusted it to you.

This is why you need to take your personal and/or business cyber security seriously, ensuring you invest sufficiently in getting the right cyber security solutions in place and undertaking cyber awareness training for employees, as well as adopting other sensible measures to protect your organisation’s data.

Recent studies show that up to 88% of UK companies have suffered breaches in the last 12 months, which, though lower than Germany (93%), France (94%), and Italy (90%), is still frighteningly high.

According to Hiscox, one small business in the UK is successfully hacked every 19 seconds, and around 65,000 attempts are made to hack small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) every day. Around 4,500 of these are successful, equating to around 1.6 million of the 5.7 million SMBs in the UK every year. Cisco estimates 53% of global SMBs suffer a security breach annually.

This figure is lower in the UK as a rule, with around 37% of UK companies reporting a data breach incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the past 12 months; however, this obviously doesn’t include those who did not report it or were unaware of the breach!

Online hackers and active cyber criminals are not the only thing to worry about. In fact, human error and employee negligence represent, if anything, an even greater security risk.

Research carried out by Shred-it found that 47 % of organisations had experienced a data breach caused by issues like devices or documents being lost, or computers being left unattended. The risk of human error has also increased over the last couple of years with the rise of employees working remotely, and the use of personal devices in the workplace.

While cyber security threats are growing, it’s important to remember that things can be done to protect your business.

Some fairly simple steps can be taken to mitigate the risk. Advising employees about the threats they may encounter and the small changes in behaviour that can help will play an important role in keeping themselves and the organisation safe.

For example, explaining best practices related to usernames and passwords can help, as many hacking attempts are automated and involve guessing obvious passwords. Also, teaching employees not to open suspicious emails and to keep software updated can be a simple step to warding off unwanted hackers.

Here at SA1 Solutions, we have many years’ experience helping and advising individuals and organisations with a wide range of IT issues. If you want to find out more about how we can help your business with cyber security, click here for more information or contact us here.