CYBERSECURITY THE BIGGEST THREAT TO BUSINESS

From hacker attacks to stolen digital goods: Cyber-attacks are a growing problem, especially for businesses. Data theft and loss of operations can have far-reaching consequences for businesses. For hackers, on the other hand, cyber-attacks represent potential business in the millions.

Whether as an individual or as an employee of a company: we leave data in the digital world on a daily basis by relying on systems that work. Digitization of data, such as a detailed customer file, is now essential for businesses. This is the only way to efficiently organize information and share it within a company. Therefore, complete data protection is essential: "Digital systems must be constantly updated to correct any security breaches without delay. If a hacker or malware succeeds in exploiting such a security breach, sensitive data can be stolen or the computer system of a company can be paralyzed”. In addition, regular data backups, the careful conservation of these backup copies as well as training of all employees are essential elements to guarantee the total security of information within a company.

The net thrown into the digital sea: a business risk to be taken seriously

Medical records, credit card data or contact details: At first glance, only large companies like hospitals, airlines or banks seem to be potential targets of cybercrime. But this is not the case: “Whether it is an SME or a large group with branches all over the world: every company can be the victim of a cyberattack. Often, cyber-attacks are not necessarily targeted attacks. You can imagine this process as a kind of fishing: cybercriminals throw a vast woven net of malware into the digital sea and fish out the companies that have been caught in the net: it could be a large airline, but also a small office of architects”.

Encrypt and steal: data is a precious commodity

If an attack is successful, a large amount of money is always at stake. In recent times, cybercriminals have engaged in blackmail, for example, using ransomware that encrypts servers and thus all the digital data of a company. Such an incident most often results in an interruption of the activity. “Let us take the previous example: if an architect or an engineer can no longer access his digital construction plans, it is the entire project that is at a standstill. This not only has consequences for the SME concerned, but also for the project partners and customers. ” Restoring IT infrastructure can take weeks even if the backup has worked. Besides ransomware attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have also increased in recent months. Critical infrastructure operators are particularly affected. Another scenario is that cybercriminals steal corporate data. In this way, hackers can blackmail the company or sell the data in the darknet, for example to high-bidding competitors. Data, which is the intellectual property of a company, therefore deserves special protection for example to the highest bidding competitors. Data, which is the intellectual property of a company, therefore deserves special protection for example to the highest bidding competitors. Data, which is the intellectual property of a company, therefore deserves special protection.