More than six out of seven organisations experienced a successful cyber-attack within the last 12 months. This astounding figure is cited in CyberEdge’s annual Cyberthreat Defense Report for 2022, which also reported that the number of organisations reporting six or more cyber-attacks has risen to a new high of 40.7% of those surveyed.
While respondents have confidence in the security of Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, they are not so sure about their own company’s ability to manage cyber-attacks and expect a successful attack on their mobile devices or APIs in the year ahead.
Respondents consisted of 1,200 qualified IT security decision-makers and practitioners from companies with more than 500 employees from 19 industries across 17 countries, including Europe, North and Latin America, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Africa. The report provided five further cyber security insights allowing companies to measure their current practices and level of security investments.
- Skills Shortage
Low cyber security awareness by employees and a shortage of skilled IT security personnel contribute to companies’ inability to defend themselves from cyber-attacks adequately.
- Increasing Cyber-Attacks
Although the number of successful cyber-attacks decreased slightly since the last survey, the percentage of six or more attacks experienced by companies increased to a new record high.
- Ransomware and Account Takeover Attacks (ATO) More Concerning
While Malware remains a concern, ATO credential abuse has moved to second place, up from fourth place in the last survey, with ransomware lagging slightly behind.
- Larger Companies Experience More Ransomware Attacks
Companies with over 5,000 employees are increasingly targeted due to their perceived ability to afford the high ransoms demanded.
- Improved Security Post Covid
Some good news is that IT security teams have adapted quickly to the chaos caused by employees having to work from home during COVID lockdown. The resulting technologies and processes have added additional layers of security for cloud-based resources.
Without a high level of network security, companies stand a good chance of having their data stolen or lost, user information leaked or used maliciously, and intellectual property falling into the wrong hands.
How Secure is Your Company Network?
- Is an anti-virus installed on the company server and workstations?
- Does the company have threat protection on its email?
- Does the company have a firewall with analyser software?
- Is email archiving available?
- Is critical data backed up off-site?
- Who is in control of the company’s IT network?
- Is company IT security monitored efficiently for potential cyber-attacks?
- Do employees have access to everything on the company server?
- Are you secure from an internal point of view – your internal users are your biggest threat because they have a low-security awareness among employees.
If you are unsure about or answered no to any of the above questions, your company probably needs an urgent upgrade to its IT security.
Westech is a professional and reliable IT company in South Africa that has gathered significant IT security experience since its inception in 1994. Contact Westech to request an IT Security Audit or for further information.
Westech provides on-site and outsourced IT services in South Africa through its regional offices:
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