In a time it takes to read this article there will be 5708 cyber attacks world wide. With volumes that high businesses have a keen focus on cyber security. We commissioned applied research to gage how companies around the globe are fearing with the threat. In spring of 2011 they spoke by telephone with 3300 organizations of all sizes in 30 countries. The result showed us strong increase in security concerns.
Well, businesses face a variety of risks: natural disasters, traditional crime, and even terrorism. The risk they most fear is cyber attacks. What's driving this concern, in a word: 'change'. At the top of the list are mobile computing, business use of social media, and the fact that so many employees are now using consumer devises such as iPhones or Androids to access business information.
Organizations report that the threats they face are evolving as well. Hackers are still their top concern but new to the list this year are targeted attacks such as Stuxnet that zeroing specifically on a single company for political or economic reasons. Their fears are well funded - nearly saw attacks in the past 12 months. And most saw loses such as downtime, personally identifiable information, and intellectual property.
Over the past 12 months 20% of small businesses incurred a cost of at least 100000 dollars. Well 20% of large enterprises lost 271000 dollars or more.
There are simple effective measures to mitigate the threat. First - develop security policies and enforce them with built-in automation in work flow.
Second - identify and protect sensitive information and who has access to it and how it enters and leaves your organization. Encrypting endpoints helps minimize the risk associated with lost devices. Encryption Software Reviews can be found easily nowadays.
Third - validate and protect all users, sites, and devices and authenticate transactions where appropriate.
Forth - manage systems by implementing secure operating environments and enforcing patch levels, automating processes, and monitoring systems status.
Finally - protect the infrastructure by securing endpoints, including mobile devices as well as messaging and web environments.
In today's connected world there are more threats than ever. It's important to take proper precautions to ensure you don't become a statistic.
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