Despite the numerous advances and innovations in the viruses and malware that cybercriminals have been able to develop, far too many businesses do not take their security as seriously as they should. Research has shown that the vast majority of European businesses have been victim to a cybersecurity breach, be that via a phishing attack, data being stolen, or by the installation of malware and viruses.
In spite of this damning statistic, only 42% of senior business decision-makers from 350 of Europe’s top business considered cyber attacks a genuine threat, and that sentiment is also rampant in the United States too.
This viewpoint is a dangerous one to have, as any type of cyber attack can really harm your business in a multitude of different ways. There have been promising leaps forward in regards to keeping your businesses safe, such as law enforcement taking down notorious bots Emotet & NetWalker that will see the dangerous software uninstalled globally by April this year. However, despite the good news, this is not an excuse for businesses to get complacent.
Here are a few reasons why you can’t be complacent when it comes to cybersecurity.
Old Protection Isn’t Good Enough
Many people feel that by having antivirus software installed and a firewall on their devices, that they’re safe from harm and can be complacent, but that isn’t true. In reality, these pieces of software can get outdated very quickly and can become virtually ineffective the older they get. This is because that piece of antivirus will only have the capacity to detect and destroy viruses and malware that was common at the time of release. However, cyber-attacks are always changing, and new, more advanced viruses are being created, which your antivirus just doesn’t have the means to stop. That’s why it’s important to continuously update this software regularly.
Due to how sophisticated these threats are becoming, it’s also advised that businesses invest in more robust forms of protection. In fact, it’s widely believed that all organizations need to implement multi-layer protection to their environments, with an essential component of that being Deceptive Bytes’ endpoint deception technology. Our solution prevents malware, without the use of signatures or AI/ML which enables advanced protection with a very lightweight, easy to manage solution both by organizations and service providers.
A Data Breach Can Ruin Your Reputation
Regardless of if your business is customer-facing or a B2B organization, a data breach can drastically harm your reputation within your niche. This is because having data that you have been storing stolen suggests that your business isn’t trustworthy, and this can put off future and existing clients from using your brand again, leading to a significant drop in revenue and income.
For example, a data breach of your business could lead to sensitive information of your customers getting leaked. Things like addresses, bank details, and emails can put all your customers at risk of fraud, spam, and other harmful practices, which they’re not going to be happy about.
Furthermore, information about your employees can also get stolen, putting them at risk as well, which may lead to a bad atmosphere within the organization.
A Cyber Attack Can Lead To Downtime
There are a lot of nasty things that a cyber attack can do to your business that will make it unable to perform its tasks and operate. Important files can be deleted, hardware can be made to crash due to viruses, and access to your documents can be locked away via a ransomware attack.
All these potential security threats can lead to an extended period of downtime while the issue is resolved. This means that during this period of time, your business is unable to work, or in other words, it isn’t able to generate an income, resulting in a huge loss of revenue and income that can really damage the business.
To learn more about how we can help you protect your organization, contact us or send us an email