The past few years have seen an evolution of IT support due to a busier, more complicated, and much more dangerous cyber threat landscape.
Businesses are also increasingly turning to Cloud infrastructure and the use of multiple devices, which is great for productivity, but it also spreads a wider base of risk.
And with greater risk comes greater financial ramifications as the result of a data breach or cyber attack.
Device Usage
Back in 2017, desktop devices and on-premise servers were the more popular ways of working. Cyber risk was (comparatively) smaller than now, just by virtue of the fact that end users mostly stuck to a single device for work purposes.
Now, on the other hand, 53% of global internet traffic now comes from mobile devices. Mobile devices are far more business-ready these days, so users are more inclined to work on-the-go.
Businesses are increasingly moving towards the more flexible option of Cloud servers.
What this means
With businesses and staff more interconnected, there are far more vectors for cyber criminals to attack a business. The more devices connected to a corporate network, the more opportunities for exploitation.
More devices and flexible servers mean a phenomenal increase in productivity. But the increased risk also means that cyber security is more costly now.
The Cost of a Cyber Attack
In 2017, the average cost of clearing up a malware attack against a business was £1.8 million.
In comparison, a mere data breach alone will cost businesses an average of £3.03 million. The introduction of the GDPR, as well as the increasing value of data, accounts for this.
What this means
The cost of a cyber attack has ballooned in an extraordinary way. The cost of a data breach is enormous, and business downtime can be now fatal if organisations are unable to deploy their business continuity & disaster recovery plan with haste.
The Risk of a Cyber Attack
2017 saw an average of 130 successful breaches per day in the UK.
There are roughly 65,000 daily attempts to hack UK small and medium-sized businesses alone.What this meansCyber crime is a well-organised industry now, and whilst large corporate entities are desirable targets, they’re often far better prepared for cyber crime than SMBs.
SMBs often think that they’re a less likely target, but actually, cyber criminals tend to view SMBs as an easy win. It’s essential that your business fortifies its cyber defences and demonstrate a strong cyber awareness.
Phishing on the Rise
Phishing has long been the weapon of choice used by cyber criminals. In fact, 76% of UK companies experienced an attempted phishing attack in 2017.
Phishing is only increasing. It’s a fairly straightforward way to attempt to breach a business, and phishing can be conducted en masse with relative ease. This is why a massive 88% of UK businesses have now experienced a phishing attack as of 2019.
What this means
Phishing is a huge threat. It only takes one accidental click, and suddenly, you’ve opened up your entire corporate network to a cyber criminal.
With it becoming even more popular, email security solutions are always coming up with new, sophisticated ways to fight back against the cyber criminals. And this can be costly.
Increased Need for Patching
2017 saw 14,600 common vulnerabilities and exposures published by cyber criminals, forcing software companies and managed service providers to act rapidly and patch these exploits.
As many as 17,000 CVEs were published in 2019, and with Microsoft ending its support for a range of programmes in 2020, this number will be much higher.What this meansThe more software exploits there are, the more likely that you’ll be affected by one of these exploits. Neuways includes patch management as standard (including liaising with 3rd parties).
Conclusion
As you can see, the threat landscape has significantly increased in complexity over the past few years. This has required an evolution of IT support, with far more sophisticated means of tracking, monitoring, and neutralising threats.
With experts on tap, and the latest security measures put in place to detect and respond to the latest threats, it’s no wonder why businesses are increasingly outsourcing their IT to dedicated managed service providers.
