Cyberattack And The Modern Face Of Internet Security

With every year the internet expands, along with the risk of cybercrime and attacks.
Cybercrime may not generate many headlines, but it is a growing industry in every sense. The World Economic Forum recently declared online criminality to be one of the greatest threats to global business, while a survey by Lloyd’s has estimated that cyberattacks cost companies $400 billion every single year. Yet despite the fact that 88% of people believe that cybercrime is as real of a threat as physical crime, only 28% of such attacks in this country are reported, leaving cybercriminals unchecked and at large to strike again.

On The Rise

According to information security specialists Hackmageddon, the most common targets for cyberattacks in April 2016 were industrial clients including ecommerce platforms and software providers, who were collectively more than twice as likely to be targeted as governments.
Over 70% of attacks were motivated by criminal intentions rather than hacktivism, espionage or cyberwarfare. Most of these statistics have remained fairly stable compared to previous months, although one rapidly rising figure relates to the number of security incidents being detected annually. A global survey by PwC suggests that 2015’s total figures were 38% higher than the previous year.

The Counter Attack

The ever-increasing threat of criminality has fueled a counter-industry of web security experts and network consultants who are constantly working on preventing future attacks. They have the unenviable job of trying to persuade skeptical finance directors that investment against cybercrime can pay dividends; over 169 million personal records were exposed last year with an average per-record cost of $154. However, this remains a theoretical risk, and it can be hard for non-IT personnel to quantify the stakes before an attack has taken place. Quite apart from headline financial implications, the reputational damage of a breach can be unquantifiable, particularly since many hacked firms go out of business shortly afterwards.

A Snake In The Grass

Misconceptions also surround the nature of cyberattacks, which don’t follow the rapid timeline of conventional crimes like burglary. Microsoft experts have calculated that once a network is breached, it will be more than 200 days before that breach is detected –  a median figure. Some criminals will be inside a company’s computer system for years, quietly harvesting sensitive information or stealing financial data with impunity. This is unacceptable in any circumstances, but is especially so if the company in question has an ecommerce element to its online activities or deals with sensitive personal information.

How To Keep Data Safe

So what can be done to keep criminals out of a company’s servers and hard drives? Firstly, with a Trustwave security report identifying vulnerabilities in 98% of web applications, apps must receive every available update and patch. Directors need to become fully engaged in corporate security policies, while IT managers must rigorously enforce system updates and periodic password changes. External agencies can be drafted in to examine a company’s ability to withstand everything from coordinated DDoS attacks to Trojans, before proposing solutions to any identified weaknesses.
Finally, companies should choose a hosting company that provides ongoing security monitoring and proactive responses to any issues, with regular data backups conducted in centres equipped with military-grade security and round-the-clock maintenance. This step alone would ensure that fewer firms need to go through the reputation-building and damage limitation that typically follows a cyberattack.

Partner with a web host you can trust to keep your information safe. Learn more at VPS.NET.