The Importance of Cyber Security for Businesses in 2022

Though the pandemic put a lot of physical distance between us, we’ve never been more digitally interconnected. 

This is especially true of businesses. They were forced to choose between rapidly adopting new technologies or shutting their doors for good. Those that succeeded implemented ways for their employees to communicate and collaborate from afar.

In the wake of these changes, many organizations reported a decrease in overhead costs and an increase in both productivity and job satisfaction. 

But the success of the work-from-home model also came with a dire set of consequences: greater digital dependence meant greater vulnerability that could result in data breaches and ransomware attacks.

Alongside productivity, cybercrime skyrocketed. That’s why cyber security has never been more important. 

In this article, we discuss the importance of cyber security in business and how you can keep your organization secure in 2022. We also offer 10 essential tips to protect your business.

5 Reasons Why Cyber Security is Important

You may be wondering, “Why is cybersecurity important in 2022?” Consider that many businesses now exist almost entirely in the digital domain. As a result, threat actors are eager to exploit new backdoors and vulnerabilities created by increasingly connected devices and systems.

By understanding the importance of cyber security now, you can begin to take steps to protect your organization, employees, assets, and customers’ data from greater and greater cyber risk.

1. Cyber Attacks are Expensive

From healthcare institutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), no one is safe from a cyber attack. According to a 2021 RiskIQ report, cyber crime costs organizations an astounding $1,797,945 per minute.

As the old saying goes, one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, the cost of a cyber attack is immeasurably greater than the monthly cost of hiring a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) to oversee your cybersecurity needs.

2. Cyber Crime is More Prevalent Than Ever

Incidents of cybercrime witnessed a dramatic spike during the pandemic years. As businesses transitioned to a distributed workforce, new vulnerabilities emerged that hackers were eager to exploit.

Interestingly, certain socio-cultural elements of the pandemic, such as fear, uncertainty, disruptions, and mass confusion, made it even easier for hackers to gain unauthorized access to private business systems.

3. Your Employees are Your Greatest Risk

In stark contrast to their depiction in pop culture, most hackers aren’t genius coders. In fact, instead of leveraging complex zero-day vulnerabilities, most of them leverage basic human psychology.

These are known as phishing attacks, a form of social engineering attack that aims to exploit cognitive or emotional blindspots. Essentially, people are tricked into sharing sensitive data by responding to fake requests that appear authentic. This could be a text, email, phone call, or even a website.

A report from Interpol indicates that phishing scams are becoming more sophisticated as they move away from targeting individuals to targeting government and health care infrastructure.

4. IOT Devices and Cloud Computing Have Created New Entry Points

The adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based technologies have undeniably improved operational efficiency. Unfortunately, they’ve also left created gaping holes susceptible to cyber attacks.

According to Zscaler, a mere 24% of IoT devices utilize encryption. That leaves a whopping 76% undefended and exposed to attacks. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) and digital camera recorders were some of the most targeted devices; these can be found in your home, business, and even your car.

5. Cryptocurrency Has Made Cyber Crime Even Easier

Deep down, many of us believe that the bad guys will always get caught in the end. This is perhaps nowhere more false than in the world of cyber crime. With the advent of things like cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and anonymous wallets, ransomware attacks have never been less traceable or more lucrative.

This is compounded by the fact that cryptocurrency has yet to fall under any form of government regulation. Worst of all, about 80% of ransomware victims are targeted a second time; 10% a third time; and 1% a fourth time.

10 Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Business

Now that you understand why cybersecurity is important, here are 10 preventative measures you can take to defend your business.

1. Improve security awareness through cybersecurity training programs. This is the best way to refine your staff’s ability to detect and respond to potential cyber threats.
2. Resist the temptation to adopt a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model. Instead, assign all staff members a secure corporate device. 
3. Implement remote access VPNs for employees working from home. This will enable them to remotely access and use company computer systems securely through sophisticated encryption.
4. Access control should be rigorously overseen by your IT team or managed services provider (MSP). Apply the principle of least privilege.
5. Hire cybersecurity professionals or partner with a managed security services provider (MSSP) to help you devise a cybersecurity roadmap.
6. Implement multi-factor authentication and encourage employees to use strong passwords.
7. Backup data on a frequent and regular basis to mitigate the consequences of hacks or data breaches.
8. Design and implement a disaster recovery plan (DRP) and business continuity plan (BCP). Perform simulations once every year or once every quarter to stay prepared.
9. Use best firewalls to prevent ransomware attacks. Firewalls create checkpoints that analyze both incoming and outgoing data packets for malware and other malicious data.
10. Always stay on top of software updates and patches. Hackers can reverse-engineer patches within hours to discover old weaknesses. They will then prey on systems that have yet to be updated.

These measures are important for every organization, but especially for those that handle classified or sensitive information. This can be anything from intellectual property, financial records, confidential emails, and even employee and client personal information.

Industries like healthcare, finance, and government should be especially vigilant as they’ve become particularly vulnerable in our post-pandemic world.

At powersolution.com, We Understand The Importance of Cyber Security

A robust security posture is an essential ingredient to the success of your business. But staying updated on all of the latest threats, vectors, and security tips can be both time-consuming and expensive. 

Luckily, working alongside a competent managed services provider is a great way to get advanced protection at affordable rates.

At powersolution.com, we’ve been providing New Jersey businesses with advanced cyber security solutions for nearly three decades. With a customer satisfaction score of 98%, we know what it takes to deliver reliable protection. 

For more information, contact us today to schedule a consultation with our team.