The importance of cyber security

IT security is also known as Cybersecurity. It is the process of protection and recovery of networks, devices and programs from any cyber-attacks. These catastrophic threats affect the proper functioning of an organisation, its employees and its consumers. They are designed to destroy critical data or extort money. Their impact can create destruction all across the business and damage people’s financial and personal lives.

But what about the defence? One must build a robust security system. Why so? Because a profound security system has countless layers of protection wide-spread across computers, networks, and programs. A well-built cybersecurity system depends on cyber defence technology and also on individuals making smart cyber defence choices.

No specialization IT security is necessitated in order to understand and comply with cyber defense tactics. Accurate guidance plays a significant role in creating awareness about cybersecurity. Because explicit guidelines will help you to defend yourself from cyber threats. It could help you recognise and avoid threats before they are able to infiltrate your network or device.

Infringements in numbers

This section is designed to give you an idea about the growing numbers of data breaches. Here, the noteworthy thing is the numbers and severity both are escalating side by side.

1. The Australian Cyber Security Agency has confirmed the attempt of cyber-attack on Melbourne Heart Group. Australian Police and Cyber Security Agency are jointly running this investigation. They stated that medical files of more than 15,000 patients from a specialist cardiology unit are prone to attack.
2. Bank of Valletta performs almost half of the banking transactions in Malta. Hackers broke in the transaction system and transferred funds worth 13 million euros to the banks in the UK, US, Czech Republic and Hong Kong.
3. Parenting site Mumsnet itself reported a data breach to the UK’s data protection authority after they made an upgrade in their systems.
4. MH370 flight, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on 8 March 2014, while 239 people were on board. The cyberattack happened with the right tools and knowledge about Boeing 777 and the ability to access the cockpit and hack the system.
5. The Dark Overlord in a tweet claimed that the data consists of more than 18,000 confidential documents.
6. Question and Answer website Quora has been hacked, and the names and email addresses of more than 100 million users are compromised. Quora data breach included encrypted passwords and questions people had asked.

infringements in numbers

1. Personal data of more than 500 million people including credit card details, passport numbers, and date of birth has hacked in a “colossal” hack of Marriott International, including the parent companies.
2. Google accuse of violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by a group of seven consumer organisations.
3. The ICO announces that Uber’s European operations have fined for £385,000 for an incident that happened in November 2016, where attackers hacked the cloud servers and downloaded 16 large files containing data of almost 3 million British users, and 3.7 million users worldwide.
4. The latest quarterly data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has revealed that over 10 million individuals had their information compromised in one single incident. The current population of Australia is around 25.4 million.
5. The Turkish government’s watchdog, Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK), recently fined Facebook a total of 1.65 million Lire ($270,976.01) in April 2019, for failing to protect its users’  personal information.

What is the true cost of a data breach?

There is a dramatic enlargement of disbursement on cybercrimes. This brings an alarming situation for the companies who are not compliant with IT security because huge costs and fine are awaiting them.

1. According to the Internet Business Machine’s (IBM) study in 2018, the average amount of a data breach has reached up to $3.86 million. As compared to a 2017 study, it has increased by 6.4 per cent. Hence, Renub Research experts spoke about the global vulnerability assessment market. They predicted that the cost would reach $15 billion by 2024.
2. Cybercrime has devastating effects. To put it into some perspective, it costs businesses around £30 billion every year, and this figure is rising.
3. Wendy’s Co. a fast-food giant agrees that it will pay $50 million to settle the claim of a data breach by a group of financial institutions which affected hundreds of its chain of franchises between 2015 and 2016.
4. The parent company of Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections Ltd, fine £15,000 because it failed to hand over the data of US citizens.
5. The oath has agreed to pay a fine of $5 million for violating the federal privacy law that prohibits tracking children online for advertisements without parental consent.
6. Duke Energy had fines $10 million by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) for security violations between 2015 and 2018 regarding critical infrastructure assets, multiple news organisations reported last week.

Data breach

1. Touchstone has agreed to pay a $3 million fine to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to settle potential Health Insurance Portability. And Accountability (HIPAA) rule violations stemming from a large breach exposing patient’s health information.
2. The North American Electric Reliability Corp. has imposed a $10 million fine — its largest ever­ for cybersecurity violations — on an unnamed power company identified in news reports as Duke Energy Corp.
3. The website of Australian online retailer Princess Polly has breached, the company says in a statement, adding that customers’ personal information and payment details may have leaked to the attackers.
4. Flipboard hit by a user data breach, Hackers accessed the company’s internal systems for more than nine months.
5. A former customer service advisor at Stockport Homes has prosecuted for accessing records relating to anti-social behavior without authorization.
6. A Restorative Justice Caseworker has prosecuted for sending sensitive personal data to her own personal email account without authorization.

The impact of IT security breaches

Having a hold on the general landscape of metrics on cybersecurity issues is a hard nut to crack. Identifying the bracket and where it came from is indeed a complex and a time-consuming task.

• A survey conducted by 501 IT decision-makers claimed that almost 48 percent of small and medium-sized businesses could face a cyber threat once in their lifetime.
• According to the latest study by Ponemon Institute. The average cost of the data breach is 2.95 million euros, with an average price per lost or stolen record is $148 which is 113 euros.
• The report says the revenue of global cybersecurity will reach US$87.59 bn in 2012, which started to rise from US$ 30.91 Bn in 2016. The market estimates to expand at an impressive CAGR of 12.5% from 2017 to 2025.
• Despite a growing list of providers reporting breaches long-after, it’s first discovered. HIPAA mandates reporting within 60 calendar days – and without reasonable delay.

IT security risks

1. Main political parties from Australia struck by a cyber attack from a “sophisticated state actor”. Especially when there is a little time in elections. It says that just ten days after their computer networks became subject to a “malicious intent”. Now, they are forcing the government to order an investigation to implement a  cybersecurity strategy.
2. Accenture stated that there could be a loss of $5.2 tr over the next five years, to the companies worldwide due to cyber risk. This amount in total is the size of the combined economies of Spain, Italy, and France.
3. Several German politicians, including Angela Merkel’s personal details published. The impact of damage causes the cyberattack not yet calculated, although it was a severe attack.

Malware attack

1. There was a suspected malware attack which affected the publication of several newspapers across the US. Affects are those publications which print at Tribune Publishing plants.
2. Republican leaders release a report regarding the Equifax data breach on Monday. Listing a series of cybersecurity risks and failures that precede in 2017 where data of over 140 million Americans compromised.
3. Self-styled “hacktivist” researchers revealed a huge data breach with hints for many major hotel chains around the globe.
4. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants has brought another data breach news. It affects some of its customers at 102 Checkers and Rally’s locations.
5. Superior Style Home Improvements Ltd issued with monetary penalty notice after making unsolicited marketing calls to individuals registered with the TPS to try and generate UPVC installation leads.

Conclusion

Companies should conduct regular cybersecurity audits to identify and mitigate any potential risks. So they should implement the required policies & procedures. And obtain expert advice for extremely vulnerable areas of the business to identify the best solution.