Identifying security needs

Many businesses, including SMBs, tend to think they remain off the cyber-attacker radar. The belief that most companies do not operate with sensitive data and therefore remain relatively safe strengthens this belief. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different - SMBs are the most common victims of cyber-attacks due to poor security practices. Also, such traditional industries as manufacturing, professional, and business services are entering the riskiest sector list.


Interactive tool to evaluate solutions and identify risks

WHAT IS IN THIS TOOL?

Identifying business cybersecurity needs

Our experts compiled a quiz to enable IT managers, employees, or top management to evaluate their business need for cybersecurity solutions and get acquainted with potential threats and risks they are currently facing. It covers five main categories: industry, data type, data storage, work model, and employee awareness – factors that are increasing the risk of jeopardizing their privacy.

If you need to convince other people in the organization that they should take some cybersecurity measures, the tool can be easily used internally by sharing the link with employees or management. After clicking on the most appropriate choice, the explanation with relevant risks and arguments will appear on the screen. Therefore, the tool’s primary purpose is not to give a score but rather to increase awareness and introduce acceptable potential risks if not taken with special measures.

Main points you will find in the tool

Increasing risks

Many more standard security paradigms are stressed with businesses shifting to remote-first, hybrid, or cloud-based work models, and in 2021 it attracted more cybercriminals than ever. According to IBM, the cost of a data breach has increased to $4.24 million. The dynamic nature of modern technologies requires redefining cybersecurity strategy. At the same time, many businesses tend to sleep on phishing attacks or data breaches. More often than not, these malicious cybercriminals’ activity could expose them to a universe of risks and potential financial losses.

Size-neutral risk

The fact is that whether you are a small company or a large multinational, you depend on online interactions every day. SMBs can be specifically vulnerable as they often lack the budget, resources, and expertise to prevent and recover from a successful security breach. The increased resources of cybercriminals translate into raised threats to such sensitive personal and corporate data as clients, suppliers, staff, and even website users’ credit card numbers or bank account details. Still, there is no need to store the highest sensitivity data, such as medical records, to become a target for cyber attackers.

Sensitive data

Here, we present a couple of examples of insights you will get in the prepared quiz. For instance, an IBM index shows that professional and business services were the third-most attacked industry in 2021. Hackers are interested in clients’ records since they contain sensitive and confidential personal identifiable information (PII), which can be sold or used for malicious activity, directly harming individuals or businesses. Attackers are usually motivated solely by financial gain. With client record data, they can apply for loans, and credit cards, file fraudulent income tax returns or sell data to companies specializing in spam campaigns. Even employee personal data can become a trigger for hackers. Gained access to employees’ usernames and passwords allows redirection of employees’ paychecks into the hackers’ accounts. Furthermore, data stored in a cloud environment is most susceptible to being hacked without using security measures. Encryption, authentication, or tokenization are standard security practices to protect sensitive information on the cloud. So, if your business plans to store sensitive and valuable data in a cloud environment, it’s crucial to consider managing security risks.

Where to start

If you seek to understand your cyber defense needs better, complete this quiz yourself or share it with professionals in the position to decide on network security measures. Our experience suggests that educating employees through interactive materials increases their resilience to potential sophisticated cyber-espionage campaigns.


Interactive tool to evaluate solutions and identify risks

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