A shift in approach and mentality among Canadian organizations was recently highlighted in a study conducted by Scalar Security – a company focused on IT companies to examine and determine trends in the cyber security landscape. The credit for this shift can be given to the increasing cyber attacks threatening Canadians over the past 12 months.
Increase in Cyberattacks in the Last Twelve Months
This particular study also noted that the past 12 months saw the average number of cyber attacks climb by 17%. Businesses and organizations are easy targets, which is why they are targeted often.
Previously adopted approaches to tackle such attacks are no longer sufficient. Simply put, the problem is not that organizations are being targeted. The worrisome fact is that even after knowing about these threats, businesses in Canada are not taking the required steps to protect themselves.
On the other hand, the study also pointed out that certain organizations had effective security measures against cyber attacks. These organizations also recorded better performance because of the positive approaches adopted by them. Some approaches include introducing highly transparent networks to detect and eradicate digital threats before they can cause any damage.
Dealing with Cyber Security Threats is Getting Expensive
It is worth noting that Canadian organizations are spending considerable financial resources to deal with cyber attacks. Over the course of the last 12 months, an average of over $700,000 was spent on cleaning up and recovering from cyber attacks. The cost has in fact increased by $100,000 over 2015.
Apart from the usual costs, loss of intellectual property, loss of productivity, negative brand image and the theft and damage of IT infrastructure and assets all add up to a damage of $175,000 per cyber attack. The number of attacks has so far increased by 40% over the last 12 months, leading to a total cost of $7,000,000.
To overcome cyber security related costs, it is imperative that Canadian organizations identify the proper resources to spend on, along with security technologies. It has already been seen that organizations that spend on these resources and technologies enjoy greater ROI, which should be enough to motivate businesses to not treat cyber security as an expense but an investment.
As for businesses that cannot deal with cyber security, they should outsource the department to a reliable security service provider as soon as possible.
Businesses Overlook Cyber Security
What is really disturbing is the fact that many businesses have managements that do not take the issue of cyber security seriously. Even though the risks and their severity are increasing, there is a huge disconnect between the management and IT teams. Due to these disconnects, organizations are at great risk and can come to a halt in the near future.
When it comes to high performing organizations, they put great emphasis on the adoption of new cyber security technologies and strategies, even though it may not necessarily be easy.
All in all, the last 12 months have proven to be disastrous for Canadian organizations. If things remain the way as they are, which is what the trend suggests, cyber security risks will increase and grow beyond control. It is high time that businesses start taking these threats seriously and deal with them effectively by having the right technologies and strategies in place.
