Cyberattacks are Inevitable, but is your Company Prepared?

We hear about cyberattacks all the time on the news, throughout social media, and by word of mouth. Just recently Microsoft, a company valued at $1 trillion fell victim to a cyberattack that affected tens of thousands of organizations across the world. It has been reported that the primary actor behind the initial attacks are identified as a Chinese-based group known as "Hafnium". Microsoft is the perfect example of a trillion dollar company with a high security network that fell victim to a massive cyberattack. No company is too big to fall victim to a hack.

As reported by Cybersecurity Ventures the financial impact of cybercrime is expected to reach $6 trillion USD in 2021 and rise to $10.5 trillion USD annually by 2025. To put these damages into perspective the United States was the world's largest economy in 2020, with a nominal GDP of $21.44 trillion.

Cyberattacks are inevitable. You may think that your company will never become a target, but when rubber hits the road, is your organization prepared? 

From a security standpoint, it is a simple question:

“How certain are you that your organization won’t become the next security-breach story?”

The practice of conventional security is outdated. The assumption that everything inside an organization’s network can be trusted is no longer enough protection from sophisticated intruders and inside threats. Potential hackers are scanning networks of businesses numerous times every day in hopes of finding an entry point, where massive damage can cause setbacks that could negatively affect a bottom line or possibly close shop. Simply put, many companies have been breached, and no one knows it. This is where your companies certainty comes into play. Are you certain that your organizations' information is safe? If your unsure you may want to create “Certainty” by following these seven steps:

1. Follow a seven-layer approach to securing your network, devices, people and data.
2. Access control and password management should be strictly enforced.
3. Don’t assume that cloud applications and user access is secure without validation.
4. Inspect and log all traffic going across the network, not just edges or physical levels, but internally on wireless sides and remote users. All traffic must be inspected, so it’s being analyzed in present time. Logs allow the traffic to be reviewed for future problems.
5. Ensure your networks are designed from the inside-out. Data must be secured around the destinations, sending the traffic where it needs to go in a secure manner.
6. Conduct annual security assessments with penetration testing and remediation.
7. Continually educate staff on acceptable behavior and create a culture of discipline.