No matter what industry your business might belong to, cybersecurity breaches should be at the very top of your list of concerns.
Hackers are working harder than ever to steal your data, drain your accounts, and disable your business infrastructure.
While the threat from hackers is constantly evolving, meaning that businesses must evolve to keep up, knowing the essential facts will help to keep you safe. If you want to know the scale of the threat your business faces, here are five vital hacking facts you’ll want to commit to memory.
1. Hacking Facts: Small Businesses Are Big Targets
One of the most surprising (and fear-inducing) facts about hacking is that hackers aren’t focusing their energy on big-name Fortune 500 companies. Rather, research has shown that a large majority of cyber-attacks are targeted toward small and medium-sized companies.
This may be because hackers believe that such companies do not have the infrastructure to cope with attacks, while larger companies will have stronger defenses.
However, with outsourced cybersecurity, any small business can access the same protection as the Fortune 500.
2. Hacking is Big, Big Business
If there’s one cyber hacking fact you need to know, it’s that it is big business. Not only did cyber hackers steal over $1 trillion from businesses last year, but businesses themselves spent over $1.5 trillion on cybersecurity.
This represents an all-time high that is significantly larger than the amounts spend or lost in any of the preceding years. It’s clear that we’re entering what could be described as a cybersecurity arms race.
3. The Greatest Threat is Internal
When accessing the threat from hackers, many people tend to conjure up images of shady groups of balaclava-clad evil masterminds working in a basement. However, the biggest threat often comes from inside the house.
A full 76% of companies report that their biggest cybersecurity concerns stem from their own employees. This doesn’t mean that they’re worried about their own staff stealing data (although this is a legitimate concern).
Rather, the main concern is that the carelessness of staff can open the door to hackers. Untrained staff expose secrets, share passwords, and click on shady links. That’s why cybersecurity training is essential.
4. DDoS Attacks Are Back with A Vengeance
Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS attacks, are the new cyber attack to be concerned about. They have existed in some form or another for almost as lost as the Internet, but things are changing.
Such attacks are growing more sophisticated than ever before. They are also becoming much more common, with the rate of such attacks growing by more than 500% last year alone.
5. Personal Data is the Prize
When it comes to finding the right solutions to cybercrime, knowing the target becomes crucial.
Rather than seeking to access your corporate accounts or transaction information, it is the personal data of your employees, customers, and third parties that hackers are after.
Half a billion personal records were stolen by hackers in 2018, and that number is expected to be even higher this year. This is because a person’s personal data can be monetized in countless ways, making it very valuable.
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If these essential hacking facts motivated you to act, then you’re in luck. If you want your business to enjoy complete and cutting-edge protection from the cyber threats it faces, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experts today.
