Cyber Security Threats and How to Protect Your Business from Them

Many businesses today have IT infrastructures that enable them to make their business process easier, faster and smoother.

Whether it is to handle in-house processes, communicate with and handle customer details, handle finances, etc., information technology plays a big role in making a business efficient.

A lot of companies now have profiles and conduct their business online.

They relate with and handle customer requests using various IT infrastructures and technologies. These include their websites, emails, company software, cloud storage, etc. You can see the role of IT in modern organizations here.

However, as companies try to make their processes better, there has been a rise in threats to their existence and functionality. This threat typically comes in form of cyber security breaches.

They now increasingly face security issues and attacks from hackers and other external entities who aim to gain access to their assets.

These assets may include things like customer details and profiles, financial accounts, staff privileges, intellectual property and so on. Protect your business from cyber security threats by implementing Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solutions.

What Are Cyber Security Threats?

Cyber security threats are malicious attacks that illegally access, steal data as well as disrupt and damage a company’s digital operations. They typically include data breaches, computer viruses, phishing, brute force, denial of service (DoS) and so on.

Oftentimes, a cyber-threat aims to steal sensitive data and either sell or destroy this for monetary gain.

The perpetrators may hold the owners of the information to ransom so that they pay to get it back. It may also be for other reasons like competition, crime, hostility and so on.

Most online security issues are varied and when looking for targets, they do not discriminate individuals from businesses. They look for easy and exposed networks, businesses and people to prey on. Here is one more guide from Oxeye.

Where Do Cyber Security Threats Originate From?

Cyber threats can come from several actors. These can include hacktivists, lone hackers, terrorist groups, criminal organizations, hostile nations and many more. It may even originate from within a company through trusted but disgruntled employees.

A lot of the time though, these threats are possible because of carelessness on the part of an organization or individual. This can be a failure to implement necessary protection like authentication, encryption, firewalls, etc.

Individuals may store their personal but sensitive information on their mobile devices. They also use public networks that are insecure.

Factors like growing global connectivity, cloud services usage and online transactions which are great have also encouraged perpetrators to steal other people’s information. While a lot of attacks are simply nuisances, some are very serious and may even threaten human lives. You can read more on this here https://preyproject.com/blog/en/what-are-cyber-threats-how-they-affect-you-what-to-do-about-them/.

Reasons to Protect Your Business From Cyber Threats

Cyber security threats permeate every organisation. Unfortunately, if you are not adequately protected, this may have disastrous consequences on your business. Asides from exposing your customers and information about them, you will also be losing a lot of money.

These threats can cause military equipment failure, blackouts, and national security breaches. They can be used to steal sensitive information like bank details, medical records, classified information and so on. Furthermore, they paralyse lives and business processes by disrupting computer and mobile networks.

Protecting Your Business From Cyber Security Threats

While the space where attackers operate is virtual and the perpetrators themselves are often “invisible”, the potential impact is real. This is why it is crucial to have procedures to protect your data.

Oftentimes, these threats are not directly under the control of your IT team. You can begin by assessing your system and infrastructure and identifying gaps where attackers may take advantage of. A business can protect itself by engaging cyber security professionals to help implement systems that will counter these attacks. Because this requires expertise and can be expensive, it may be wise to do so than handling it in-house.

Infographic created by Donnelley Financial Solutions, a financial consolidation software provider

What this does is that it helps to take the burden of handling implementation, monitoring and maintenance off you. You can engage managed IT professionals to handle implementation, firewall protection, authentication, encryption and other network services to prevent threats. With this, you can have peace of mind. This comes from the knowledge that your IT needs are taken care of and at the same time, you are adequately protected.

Conclusion

Cyber security threats come in a variety of forms and are quite a big deal. This is because of the disastrous and negative impact that they can have on a business. However, the good news is that there are ways to prevent them. You can start by hiring managed IT professionals to handle your IT and security needs.