CYBER SECURITY AWARENESS
Intelligence from the experts at Paladin Risk Solutions.
October is recognized internationally as Cyber Security Awareness Month or ‘Cyber Month’. Cyber Security Awareness Month was an initiative launched by government agencies to highlight existing threats and best practices in safeguarding digital infrastructure and networks. Since its origin in 2004, hacking threats have grown exponentially, posing significant threats to businesses, individuals, and nation-states. In 2021, phishing attacks, data breaches, insider threats, supply chain hacks, spyware, and malware caused Canadian companies an average of $7 million per incident affecting an estimated 85% of Canadian businesses.
Further statistics highlight the rise of cyber threats and associated risks:
- Hackers take less than five hours to breach an organization's network once a vulnerability is identified.
- Phishing attacks are by far the most frequent (and effective) cyber-attack in 2022. Experts note that phishing attacks, baiting users into clicking false links or entering information that will open them up to attacks, are the most common cyber threat in North America. In a three-month period from April to June 2022, there were 1,097,811 phishing attacks were identified.
- Intelligence indicates that more than 60% of Canadian businesses have been affected by state-linked hacker groups, and are regularly targeted for espionage, data collection, and intellectual property theft.
- 90% of companies were affected by ransomware in 2022. Though anti-ransomware software is becoming increasingly effective, prominent intelligence indicates that more than half of these ransomware attacks were successful.
Cyber security risk remains one of the most prominent threats that businesses & organizations face today.
The capabilities of bad actors are rapidly increasing and getting more sophisticated. Multi-layer cyber-attacks used to require extensive coding knowledge. Attacks have become increasingly simple to launch, and bad actors can purchase hacking as a service targeted at any organization. Sophisticated enterprise networks can be breached by one singular employee clicking on a bad link. For these reasons, cyber security efforts must be proactive and focus on awareness.
Proactive cyber security means robust cyber security mechanisms, policies and procedures, and continued education for all employees. Adequate cyber security relies on awareness and education. It is everyone’s responsibility when it comes to securing and protecting data and personal information.
INTELLIGENCE: For more information and analysis specific to your organizational needs and for insight into how potential disruption may affect you, please contact Paladin Risk Solutions directly.