No company is immune to the attention of cybercriminals who may attack any business - any location, any type, and any size. The saying amongst security professionals is, 'there are two types of organizations: those which have been infiltrated and those which have been but do not know it yet.
The UK government Cyber Security Survey discovered that 40% of small businesses and 28% of micro had recognized an attack or breach in 2019. That survey also found that this had amplified from 33% of small firms and 17% of micro-businesses just three years before.
The extent to which businesses get affected depends on the type of attack. Most attacks have fallen into one of two categories. The first is a “denial-of-service” attack (DoS). A DoS attack renders a firm’s Internet portal inaccessible and interferes with its ability to conduct online business. For the most part, this kind of attack causes no lasting harm. The more severe category of attacks is those that involve the theft or destruction of secure information. This kind of security breach is more likely to have lasting effects on the targeted firm, often extorting large sums of money from businesses by threatening to make the data breach public. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre says it handled more than three times as many ransomware incidents in 2020 than in the previous year.
Cyber-attack: The Impact on the Company
Cyber-attacks can cause significant loss of business intelligence and intellectual property, drive up the cost of security, disrupt workflow, and damage company reputation irreparably. Companies reporting major attacks have suffered a significant drop in their stock value; while some companies recover from this, others may lose everything. The cost of a severe cyber-attack on a business not only involves a compromise of confidential data and loss of trust but also has a direct and lasting impact on the company's bottom line and overall reputation.
The impact of a severe cybersecurity incident can be broadly classified into five categories, viz., physical, or digital, economic, psychological, reputational, and social and societal. Of these, the reputational and the economic impact of severe cyber incidences weigh the most on enterprises irrespective of size or stature.
Trust is vital to conduct business and establish life-long stakeholder relationships. Cyber-attacks can harm a company’s reputation and wear down the trust users have for the business. It can damage public perception, reduce corporate goodwill, reduce business opportunities, inability to retain, and find and recruit desired talent, increased media scrutiny, suspension of business-critical accreditation or certifications, reduced credit scores, etc.
For More Information: Cyber-attack
Digitization and growing use of technology has led to a massive spike in cybercrimes and cybersecurity threats.
The digital world has witnessed a rise in information sensitive data breach through ill-legal cybercrimes like Phishing attacks.Click here to continue reading.
Phishing may be “one of the oldest tricks in the book,” but it is still incredibly effective.
Identifying phishing emails has become paramount important for people to defend against data breaches.
Check out the 5 ways you can spot Phishing emails.
1) Identifying Fake URLs Look at the email address, not just the sender 2) Poorly Written Email’s Look for grammatical mistakes, not spelling mistakes Check out our video Identifying ways: 5 Ways to Detect a Phishing Email
Phishing, spear phishing, social engineering and diversion fraud cannot be ignored by law firms
The legal sector presents the perfect playground for cyber attackers, with sensitive data waiting to be exploited and the reputations of law firms waiting to be destroyed, writes Andy Pearch, Head of IA Services, CORVID.
To combat these threats, law firms need to move away from placing the burden of spotting cyber attacks on employees, and instead use sophisticated detection engines and threat intelligence sources to transform their email security and threat protection.
While no business wants to risk damaging their reputation, it is particularly critical for the legal sector.
From intellectual property to personal data, the value of information held by law firms is high, making them a big target for any cyber criminal.
In reality, though well-protected FTSE 100 companies are tempting prey, their legal representatives provide equally rich rewards and are, unfortunately, likely to be easier to breach.
