Welcome to our Spring IT Security Update! With cybercrime on the increase and showing no signs of slowing down this year, in this quarter's news update, Jamie gives us a stern warning to stay on top of our cybersecurity and take action... or risk becoming a victim to crime.
Someone’s knocking at the door
Someone’s knocking at the door, but unfortunately it isn’t the Postcode Lottery people with a lovely big cheque. It’s cyberthreat actors from all over the world, scanning your business IT networks and looking for weaknesses in your fortress walls. They are looking to wreak havoc on your network and to steal your business data.
The cyberthreat landscape is an absolute minefield just now, probably the worst it’s ever been. According to Infosecurity Magazine, 2021 was a record-breaking year for cyber attacks, with more hacks and breaches recorded last year than in any year before it. And the rise in attacks looks set to continue in 2022.
Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid change to remote working, company systems, policies, and processes are only just beginning to catch up as businesses adjust to a new normal and staff to their new way of working.
Throw in the current conflict in Ukraine with a bubbling cyber war running in the background and it’s only making the situation worse. Port scanning on UK businesses has increased as a result, and so any low hanging fruit is more likely to be compromised. We’ve also seen a series of serious vulnerabilities occur in the last 12 months such as Microsoft’s PrinterNightmare and of course another monster, the Apache’s Log4J issue, both of which continue to be exploited today.
According to Forbes, it’s almost inevitable that all business owners will encounter a ransomware cyber attack at some point, with at least 53% of businesses being open to a supply chain attack. The huge costs for payment are rising too.
Businesses of every size are now coming to realise that cybersecurity is no longer a nice to have, it is a necessity these days if you want to keep your data safe. Any organisation not engaging in making IT security changes is finding themselves on a growing list of victims, forced into reacting and making improvements when the damage has already been inflicted, often at a much greater cost to their business.
Additionally, potential customers are starting to ask new suppliers questions about their company policies and processes with regards to their IT security before engaging in any business, adding further headaches to organisations falling behind. The expectation that all businesses take their cybersecurity seriously is gaining traction, and I actively encourage it.
Organisations must now act. Your business needs to be ready for the inevitable and have the right security in place to help prevent any potential attack. Delaying action will only leave your company vulnerable to hackers and malicious cyber attacks that could have otherwise been prevented or, at the very least, reduced to minor damages.
If you have concerns about your company’s cybersecurity and data protection, government backed schemes like Cyber Essentials can help massively with putting fundamental business policies and processes in place, helping to protect your business from the most common cyber attacks. This benefits both your business and staff, as well as any potential and current customers. Everyone but the bad guys win which is ultimately the goal!
If you have any questions regarding your company’s IT security set up, need us to look at updating your hardware and software or check you have reliable security measures and backup in place, please contact me at security@ntsols.com.
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