With cyber attacks on the rise, many leaders are asking: what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company? Being prepared is critical to successfully defending your organization from impending attacks. Read on to learn how to identify signs of a cyber attack and prepare for one.
How to Know the Likelihood of a Cyber Attack On My Company
You can identify the probability of a cyber attack on your company by reviewing:
- Intelligence on how often cyber attacks happen to businesses
- The impact of cyber attacks on other businesses
With an understanding of the likelihood of your company being a target of a cyberattack, you will be better prepared to address these attacks head-on. As a business leader wondering, “what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company?,” You should consult a threat and vulnerability management expert on best practices for how to protect against cyber attacks on your company.
The Chances Of Getting Cyber Attacked
The likelihood of a cyber attack on your company will most likely depend on the:
- Types of sensitive data you handle (e.g., protected health information (PHI))
- Nature of your cybersecurity infrastructure (e.g., threat detection safeguards)
- Cybersecurity risks inherent to your industry (e.g., sensitive data processing)
Understanding the top risks for cyber attacks will help you figure out how to prevent a cyber attack from impacting your business.
How Often Cyber Attacks Occur On Businesses
The best way to assess the likelihood of a cyber attack on your company is to review the cyber attack statistics by year. These statistics are useful when comparing the likelihood and impact of cyber attacks on businesses. Unfortunately, in recent years, small businesses tend to be disproportionately affected by cyber attacks.
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Percentage Of Cyber Attacks On Small Businesses
About 43% of cyber attacks affect small businesses, meaning that many of these businesses can make significant losses due to the financial impact of cyber attacks. And 60% of these businesses shut down operations within six months of an attack.
Why Hackers Target Small Businesses
Small businesses are targeted by hackers because these businesses often lack established cyberdefense infrastructure to defend against cyber attacks. With relatively small budgets for security, small businesses tend to rely on older security controls to save money for business growth and expansion.
The Industries Most At Risk For Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks on financial institutions were among the most common in 2021, with ransomware being the most dangerous kind of attack. Financial institutions such as banks are lucrative targets for cyber attacks because of the enormous funds these organizations handle. These institutions are also common ransomware targets because cyberattackers recognize that most leaders willingly pay ransoms when their organizations are attacked.
Industries like healthcare are also targeted because cyber attackers can sell sensitive information on the dark web for significant financial gain. Stakeholders fear the implications of compromising data protected by HIPAA, including financial penalties and even criminal charges.
However, it should be noted that any organization that stores, transmits, processes, or comes into contact with sensitive information is at high risk, irrespective of industry. Hackers know that, more often than not, organizations will pay to keep data confidential.
The Impact Of Cyber Attacks
If they are not mitigated early on, cyber attacks can significantly impact your business.
The impact of a cyber attack on your business may range from operational disruptions to lawsuits that affect your reputation. Finally, you may have to deal with the financial implications of an attack, such as fines and penalties, especially if regulatory non-compliance is involved.
How To Minimize The Impact Of Cyber Attacks On Businesses
If a cyber attack occurs on your business, you must immediately deploy an incident response protocol to mitigate the effects of the attack. Managing the response to a cyber attack will help:
- Contain the source of the attack before it spreads to other components
- Analyze the attack to understand how or why it occurred
- Prevent a similar attack from happening in the future
- Restore the affected system to its original condition
Investing in a robust incident response protocol will help minimize the impact of a cyber attack on your business.
Cybersecurity Tips to Prevent Cyber Attacks on Your Company
Some of the most effective ways to prevent cyber attacks on your company include:
- Implementing resilient access controls such as—
- Multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Strong password use policies
- Keeping devices and applications updated with the latest security patches
- Conducting routine penetration testing of networks and systems
Considering the multitude of cybersecurity risks that could affect your business, the best cyber attack mitigation strategy is to partner with a threat and vulnerability management services provider like RSI Security.
How RSI Security Can Help
Keeping your business safe from cyberattacks requires tools that can effectively detect security risks early in their lifecycle. If attacks occur, your organization must be prepared with the appropriate defenses. If you are a business leader asking, “what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company?” RSI Security’s team of experts will help you conduct an extensive threat and vulnerability assessment and help manage any threats to your systems.
Contact RSI Security today to learn more!
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