It is clear that U.S. companies, especially small ones, are not taking the existential threat posed by digital breaches seriously enough. Providence Business News' recent Cybersecurity Summit, held Dec. 8, laid out some sobering facts on the topic.
According to national statistics, 70 percent of cyberattacks on businesses go undetected. And even if the attack is detected, it takes 200 days on average for a business to recognize the attack.
The bottom line is sobering. Sixty percent of small businesses close down within six months of the attack.
The good news, if there is any, is that combatting cybercrime is not just about having the latest tech (i.e. just writing a large check). A huge piece of making an enterprise resilient to attack is hardening the line of defense that your people represent.
Good cyberhabits can go a long way toward thwarting ransom attacks (in which a virus gets into your computer systems and encrypts files, with the only way to unlock them being paying a ransom), blunting spear-phishing attacks (in which you receive emails that look exactly like that those you receive from a trusted person but are in fact Trojan horses that plant a virus on your machine) or otherwise combat unwanted digital advances.
The key is that a robust defensive posture must be a priority from top management on down. It's not just about IT anymore (if it ever was).
Oh, and one last thought. There are only two types of businesses. Those that have been hacked and those that don't know they've been hacked. Keep that in mind. •