Cyber threat is a disease that can be prevented, but rarely cured

In terms of our collective response to this threat, one could compare it to how we respond to the risk of diseases such as diabetes: it’s something that people are highly aware of; they know the potential dangers if it should happen to them; there are things that can be done to prevent it; and they all believe it ‘will never happen to me’ – until it does.

And once it happens, it’s hard to treat.

Despite all the knowledge that’s out there: the warnings, statistics and advice on how to deal with cyber security proactively, few take the action necessary to prevent it, and quickly learn how ill-advised their ‘head in the sand’ approach was. But the damage is done. Full recovery is nearly impossible, and it becomes a case of damage limitation and symptom management.

Even those companies that have suffered a cyber attack and appear to have come out the other side will experience lingering effects – reputational damage being the most significant; when the trust is broken, it’s hard to rebuild. There are also the financial repercussions (estimated at a total of £29.1 billion in the UK for 2016, and an average of £120 million in costs for an average FTSE100 brand), whether that’s liability costs and lawsuits from data losses, or the cost of rebuilding a strong digital infrastructure to prevent future hacks.

And just as with diabetes, the biggest frustration comes from the fact that it could have been prevented – cyber attacks are not inevitable. They are becoming more common only because hackers are exploiting our complacency. The information needed to prevent a hack is readily available, and while the upfront cost to do so, in terms of money, time and resources, may seem like a high price to pay, it pales in comparison to the long term damage.

And one of the most effective solutions is the easiest and cheapest to implement – employee training. Research shows that the majority of cyber attacks are down to human error, rather than active hacks, putting employees at the frontline in the defence against cyber attacks. But they can only combat the risks if they have the knowledge and skills to handle data responsibly. Yet studies show that only around 20% of employees get training on cyber safety; it is therefore clear that more active effort is needed to equip employees with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves and the organisation.

But in the war against cyber crime, staff training on cyber security is the equivalent of cutting down sugar to combat the risk of diabetes; it’s simple to do and has the biggest impact.
Cyber attacks, just like diabetes is not something you can afford to manage on a purely reactive basis; proactive strategies are the only option. If you want to avoid losing the proverbial foot to the disease of cyber attacks, prevention is the only way forward as it can rarely be cured.

2018-04-17T12:20:08+00:00By |Categories: Cyber Security|Tags: |

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