eWay Corp 
60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft.
According to a survey by the Harris Poll almost 60 million Americans have been affected by identity theft. That’s the population of California, Washington State, Oregon, and New York City combined. Since the creation of the internet, the sheer scope of cyber attacks has skyrocketed like no one could have imagined. The internet has resulted in becoming not only a tool for exponential business growth, but a minefield for those unprepared for the dynamic.
Since the FBI first expanded its familiar “Most Wanted” list to include a Cyber Most Wanted in 2014, the list has grown to 42 people and groups in 2018. Although not near as long as the original most wanted list first created in 1950 but growing exponentially all the same parallel with the increasing development of the digital business world. In continuation of Cyber Security Month, we wanted to discuss the real stats and facts that we face in cyber security, and what they mean to you as for both your business and as an individual.
When it comes to email safety
92 percent of malware is still delivered by email. Combine this with the 2015 estimate that there are 205 billion emails sent each day. Imagine how many you alone receive. Your business runs a massive portion of its communication on simple memos, meeting reminders, and the occasional cat video; and it’s only growing more connected throughout the digital world. This statistic is only a problem if you don’t keep your employees informed about the dangers of cyber attacks that come with malicious emails coming into their inbox. It’s important to stay diligent and understand the simple steps you can take in order to keep your employees safe. Many modern malware attacks through email won’t simply affect a single computer either, but gains access to an entire system if not stopped, causing massive data leaking and damage costs to rise exponentially greater.
Even though the breach could happen with the mere click of an email or bad web link online, the actual syphoning of data could be a leisurely pace for an embedded virus in an under-monitored system. This year, organizations took an average of 191 days to identify data breaches which is only marginally better than 2016’s 201 days. This massive delay could also be due to the fact that 77% of all compromised attacks in 2017 were fileless meaning that the particular program does not have to download anything onto the computer itself, but instead uses tools already in the system. This prevents traditional anti-virus software that rely on file monitoring from detecting the breach. This makes it even more crucial to have dedicated security monitoring by experienced professionals in the field.
The cost of breaches
The Equifax breach cost the company over $4 billion in total. This is more than a year’s income for the massive company; showing how potentially fatal a single breach can be. The amount of attacks and the fiscal damage it can cause is only projected to increase at insane rates. By 2021 annual damage related to cybercrime is expected to reach $6 trillion.
“By 2021 annual damage related to cybercrime is expected to reach $6 trillion.”
Looking at these numbers if you’re in a small business can sometimes also seem a bit above your paygrade, however, that statistic that 43 percent of cyber-attacks target small businesses might make you rethink how often it could happen to someone like you.
Here’s where investing in airtight protection from attacks can pay off. Malware and web-based attacks are the two most costly attack types — companies spent an average of US $2.4 million in defense. When a single breach can cost a company nearly 2000 times more money than what could be spent on preventing it from happening altogether, the correct side seems a little obvious.
Statistics by company confidence
There seems to be a serious lack of confidence in the business world when it comes to making sure data is stored safely. Only 38 percent of global organizations claim they are prepared to handle a sophisticated cyber-attack and69% of organizations don’t believe the threats they’re seeing can be blocked by their anti-virus software. Is this the result of a lack of education in the field from the non-IT world or even a lack of confidence in the system already in place? Either way a change in both situations would prove incredibly beneficial for a business looking to build a secure web server.
- Only 38 percent of global organizations claim they are prepared to handle a sophisticated cyber-attack.
- 69% of organizations don’t believe the threats they’re seeing can be blocked by their anti-virus software.
- Unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide will reach 3.5 million by 2021.
Taking the time to monitor your security is incredibly important. It is almost on par with the need to create a security system that will prevent any kinds of breaches from happening in the first place; but having the time to do so anywhere can be difficult to find even in your IT department. Unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide will reach 3.5 million by 2021. This is likely to make it nearly impossible to dedicate IT resources properly against the growing threat of Cyber Attacks. It will then be even more crucial to seek out dedicated hosts that keep your data under strict lock and key.
eWay Corp is a team of technology professionals backed by over 13 years of experience in a field that’s never the same day to day. We continue to evolve with the changes in internet security assuring our clients are protected from the worst cyber threats with constantly up to date protocol and leading security software. Our dedicated staff of professionals is always on call to monitor for even the smallest of data breaches. From migration, to private cloud, to regular system updates, and beyond, our focus is that one simple click will keep your files, apps, and domains in a secure, compliant, cost-optimized location that only you and you business can access from anywhere in the world.
