Cyber Attacks On Businesses Rise As Criminals Target Greater Payouts
Published on 20/03/2018
Despite an overall decrease in fraud and computer misuse figures for 2017, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that incidents involving computer misuse and malware against businesses are way up.
4.7 million incidents of fraud and computer misuse were recorded between September 2016 and September 2017, a 15% reduction on the previous year.
Decreases in fraud were attributed to falls in consumer and retail fraud such as online shopping offences or fraudulent computer calls, while the fall in computer misuse was driven by a 26% decrease in reported incidents of computer malware and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
However, despite these figures suggesting that consumer targeted attacks may be falling as consumer grade security continues to improve, reported cybercrime against businesses is up 63% as criminals shift their sights to potentially greater profits.
It is though that this increase is attributed to a rise in levels of malware, mainly ransomware and trojans, including several high-profile attacks and breaches on national institutions, such as the WannaCry attacks in May 2017.
However, it is important to understand that the figures only paint a picture of the crimes which have been detected and reported, and cyber attacks will continue to flourish if organisations remain dependant on reactive, detection-based security tools.
SES’s cyber security solutions help you take a proactive approach to protecting your business from cyber-attacks, whilst providing the tools you need to effectively react in the unfortunate event malicious individuals are able to breach your organisation.
Vulnerability Assessments: Performing regular Vulnerability Assessments on your Web, External and Internal networks enables you to keep track of the latest exploits, helping you protect your organisation against malicious individuals.
Penetration Testing: Penetration Testing involves performing a simulated attack on your organisation to test how its defences hold up against a breach. This enables you to identify any weaknesses and resolve them.
GDPR Compliancy: It is important to put procedures in place to deal with data breaches in the event they occur in order to comply with GDPR legislations.
Currently, not all organisations are required to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) when a breach happens. However, in order to comply with the new regulations all organisations must report breaches to the ICO within 72 hours.
Security Training: Teaching your staff to be more vigilant and to spot incoming attacks before they happen can be hugely important in quelling a potential attack before it wreaks havoc on your organisation.
The threat of cyber-attacks against organisations are very real and increasing all the time as criminals shift their gaze to the potentially more profitable enterprise sector. To discuss your organisations cyber security requirements, please get in touch to speak to one of our specialists.
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