Protecting Your Business: The Importance of Cyber Security in 2024
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $8 trillion in 2023, growing to 410.5 trillion by 2025. If cybercrime was a nation state, it would have the third largest GDP in the world. That’s quite a statistic! Of course, it can be tricky to estimate the true scale of cybercrime, as cyber criminals don’t exactly shout about their activities for obvious reasons. However, regardless of what the true scale of cybercrime is, it’s growing and businesses need stronger network security to deter the threat.
As we always say in our articles, knowledge is power, especially when it comes to the ever-changing world of cyber security. So, we’re going to take you through the key cybersecurity threats that can pose a risk to your business, cybercrime trends for 2024 and the steps you can take to secure your business data.
What is the most common cybercrime in the UK?
According to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022, issued by the government, the most common attack vendor (the method criminals use to gain unauthorised access to systems and networks) was phishing. Phishing is a social engineering trick that attempts to fool users into sharing their details by pretending to be an official organisation, like a bank or government agency, or other trustworthy contact.
Phishing is commonly perpetrated through emails, which will include a link to a cloned site or malicious attachment. Scammers, nowadays, are capable of creating malicious communications and content that looks so authentic, anybody could fall victim to them. Once the victim has engaged with the bogus communication, they will be faced with a login platform, which the criminal will use to gain information or to log in to the victim’s network, portals or platforms.
What are the most common reasons for cyber attacks?
The more you know about cyber security threats, the better you can safeguard your business, so let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons cyber attacks can occur within businesses.
Lack of Awareness or Training
Many cyberattacks are a result of an innocent mistake from a user. Whether it’s insecure passwords rendering business devices vulnerable or trusting a link in a phishing email, if your team are unaware of how they could be putting your business data at risk, it’s only a matter of time before a criminal exploits this. That is why outsourcing your IT operations to a managed IT service provider, such as Netcentrix, can be so pivotal to maintaining your business’ data security. The methods attackers are using to attempt to trick users into offering up sensitive information or to force their way into your business’s network are becoming more sophisticated, so arming your team with relevant training and information means they can be on their guard at all times.
System Vulnerabilities
Not protecting your business storage systems with sufficient security measures can leave a pathway that cybercriminals can leverage to gain access to your data. Similarly, not updating your systems regularly and ensuring all programmes and applications are up to date can leave gaps and insecurities that a cyber hacker can take advantage of.
Unnecessary Access
You wouldn’t give a set of keys to your premises to every member of your team, so why would you give them permissions to all of your data, including data that isn’t relevant to them? The more people who have access to sensitive information the more difficult it is to manage securing this information, as there are a lot of entry points that will need to be monitored.
What is the cybercrime trend for 2024?
Cyberattacks have increased with the advancement of technology and adoption of cloud solutions, utilisation of online shopping platforms and the expansion of the Internet of Things through smart devices. With technology continuing to advance and our increasing reliance on the internet, cyberattacks will continue to increase and become more sophisticated. Here are some key cybercrime trends we can expect in 2024 and beyond:
Stolen Digital DNA
You may have heard the term ‘deepfakes’ on the news – it’s an artificial replica of a real person using their image and artificial intelligence. As the technology that enables the creation of deepfakes evolves, they are becoming increasingly authentic. With both individuals and companies uploading pictures of people to social media, it’s only a matter of time before attackers can create realistic avatars of anybody to steal data. As recently as Novemeber 2024, deepfakes of Elon Musk have been used to steal money from innocent Americans being promised a prosperous investment opportunity by a devious cybercriminal.
Smart Devices
IoT (Internet of Things) devices are prevalent in most homes and businesses and have therefore become a target for hackers as an entry point into sensitive information. Most common cyber attacks occur with a cyber criminal hacking into a device or network. However, in 2024, we may see a rise in criminals launching offences that can jump between smart devices, such as smart speakers, wearable devices and smart phones. There is so much data that can be shared between smart devices, so if they are connected to networks with weak security, this is an entry point that hackers can use gain access to your data.
Increased Use of Ransomware
The frequency and danger of ransomware attacks has increased over the last 12 months and this rise is predicted to continue throughout 2024, both in sophistication and frequency of attacks. This form of attack can be completely detrimental to an organisation, both financially and for their reputation. Data back up solutions from a managed IT service provider can help to minimise the repercussions of ransomware attacks by reducing downtime and avoiding data loss.
Weaponising OT Environments
OT (Operational Technology) is a type of computing and communication system, made up of both hardware and software, that is used to control industrial operations. It gathers and analyses a range of data in real-time to monitor and control equipment. OTs are used across a range of sectors and industries for a variety of uses to ensure different business devices are effectively working together.
Like all solutions, as technology advances, so does the sophistication of OT systems, so businesses can leverage them to have more control. Although this is good for business operations, these enhanced devices will become more susceptible to vulnerabilities and exploitation by cybercriminals. With machinery connected to the OT, if access is gained by a criminal, this could lead to dangerous situations where machinery could be weaponised and used to cause physical harm to people.
Key steps to protecting your business from cybercrime
Cyber attacks are growing more complex, therefore the measures needed to prevent damage to your business as a result of an attack, is also becoming increasingly complex. However, there are several key measures you should ensure are part of your security strategy to reduce the risk of a cyber attack within your business.
Training
Cybersecurity training should always be ongoing to ensure that your team are up-to-date with potential and how to avoid them. Whether it’s implementing in-person seminars at your office or setting online training courses for your team to complete, it’s important that the training covers all aspects of cybersecurity that they need to be aware of, from identifying phishing scams to knowing who to approach if they fall victim to an attack.
Regularly Updating Systems
Out-of-date software can leave gaps that render your information vulnerable to attack from cybercriminals. Ensuring that you are regularly updating your system, applications and programmes can prevent cybercriminals from taking advantage of patchy software to gain access to your data. Our expert IT consultants can provide you with a data security audit and assessment to recognise any faults in your data security set-up and recommendations that will enhance your business data protection.
Mobile Device Management
With many businesses no longer being tied to physical premises, your team will be accessing data from a range of devices including mobiles and laptops. It’s important to keep control over your business mobile devices, by implementing mobile device management solutions and multi-factor authentication that prevent business-critical data from being stolen, hacked or lost via a mobile device.
Work with us to protect your business from cyber threats
From maintaining an effective security strategy to finding the right security solutions for your business, we understand how tricky it can be to safeguard your business against cyber security threats. Our team of expert specialists will work with you to analyse your current security solutions and strategy before identifying solutions and steps to bolster your security efforts. Our wide range of products and services, provided by industry-leading brands, like WatchGuard, accompanied by our extensive industry experience means your data is in safe hands.
Call us today 0333 035 4111 or fill out our contract form here and one of our specialists will be in touch soon.
