Protecting your business against common cyberthreats

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Many organizations, businesses, charities and, in general, individuals must work with computers.

The bad news is they can’t work as safely as they wish to, which is why they’ve had to protect their computer systems and networks with cybersecurity since the arrival of the internet. In the UK, for instance, the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in its Cyber Security Breaches Survey, found that 39% of UK businesses had suffered a cyberattack. As businesses ramped up their security, they were also able to identify more cyberattacks.

Below is a look at some of the reasons why cyberattacks are so damaging for a business or organization, plus discussion of some of the most common cyberattacks and how you can defend your systems and network against cyberattacks.

What makes a cyberattack so damaging?

Cyberattacks are horrible for a business or organization to deal with and cause so much chaos. Here are a few reasons why a business never wants to have to contend with a cybersecurity breach:

Increases in costs

Cybercrime can cause large businesses millions if they fail to protect their data adequately. To protect themselves, businesses have to dig deep into their pockets and invest in cybersecurity technology and expertise, insurance, public relations support and, if an issue occurs, in notifying people of the security breach.

In a ransomware attack, hackers can prevent workers from accessing their computer systems until the organization pays a ransom. This financial cost can also be a major burden for the organization.

Disruption to operations

As well as financial damage, an organization can suffer disruption to its operations. While the organization or business is dealing with the interruption to its operations, it could be losing lots of business revenue. Operational disruption of business as usual is a favoured tool of “hacktivists.”

The organization, in the wake of the security breach, will also have to figure out how to amend its business practices and spend time implementing these new ways of operating.

Damage to reputation

A cybersecurity breach can significantly harm a brand’s reputation. If the business has failed to protectits systems sufficiently, customers and suppliers may feel uncomfortable about trusting the organization with their sensitive data. The organization will lose revenue if those customers and suppliers choose to buy from, or work with, another business instead.

Common cyberthreats

Unfortunately for anyone who uses a computer system, there are lots of different threats out there. Here are some common ones:

Malware

Malware is so common that there are several different types, such as ransomware, viruses, trojans, worms and more. Malware can help a hacker obtain data from a hard drive, deny access to crucial parts of a network or even bring a system down.

Phishing

Phishing is extremely common and entails sending out fraudulent emails disguised as coming from a legitimate source. These attacks can target specific individualsor companies, or even specific individuals within a company, such as senior management.