Cyber security and its threats to the world: Today’s Reality

Cyber security threats are increasing every day, hackers are constantly looking for new ways to exploit individuals and organizations and identify their gaps. The acceleration of cloud migration has increased in recent years. With the increased usage comes the escalated risk. Hence, the world has witnessed a sharp rise in cyberattacks.

With advancements in technology, cybercriminals have improved their ability to infiltrate and steal data for harmful purposes. They are becoming more skilled at finding holes and cracks in corporate security systems, gaining access to protected files and data, posing a significant cybersecurity threat. Additionally, hackers have access to high-level malicious software, especially with “malware as a service”.

More businesses started using applications to improve remote-work productivity and team collaborations, which resulted in a drastic increase in the use of cloud networks to save & share documents. But that also leads to additional cyber threats. 

These methods are attractive to many businesses, as cloud computing and digital storage are highly efficient and cost-effective.

Cyber threats in numbers

With the growing need to store data in public or private clouds and the increasing emphasis on meeting legal and compliance standards, a data loss prevention solution is required. A study done by Health Information Privacy and Access Act (HIPAA) reports that 70% of firms have suffered a public cloud data leak in the past year. Therefore, organizations should implement sophisticated security measures and Data Loss Protection (DLP) methods to protect information on the cloud and sensitive data against security flows.

A recent cybercrime report by Cybersecurity Ventures says that in 2021, a business is expected to be the victim of a cyberattack every 11 seconds. Companies aren’t worried about just external dangers. According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, insiders were involved in more than 20% of security breaches in the United States.

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021, the global average data breach increased from $3.86 million to $4.24 million in 2021. A General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) non-compliance can cost a company up to 4% of global revenue. Data loss can also result in a loss of clientele, productivity and can have a long-term detrimental influence on the company’s reputation.

While technologies are continuously emerging, companies need to implement and update security precautions to combat new cyber risks regularly. 

Luckily, innovative and creative strategies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Behavioral Detection, and Embedded Hardware Authentication have been employed in the industry with significant results.