With the number of data breaches skyrocketing in recent years, global cybercrime-related damages are expected to surge in the years ahead. In the last two months alone, we have seen a wave of ransomware attacks wreak havoc and another mega breach that impacted more than 100 million individuals at Capital One whose credit application information was stolen.
The initial impulse at most organizations is to ask for additional funding for new security technology. According to IDC, organizations are expected to spend $134 billion on IT security products and services by 2022 alone. However, are we spending that money in the right places? When conducting post-mortem analysis of data breaches, it becomes apparent that lack of cyber hygiene was often a contributing factor. Given this fact, let’s consider what steps organizations can take to shore up their defenses without breaking the bank.
Strengthening an organization’s cyber security posture is complex, but just tackling the challenge with technology isn’t enough. Instead, the process should start with implementing baseline cyber security practices, also known as “cyber hygiene”. Like personal hygiene, cyber hygiene’s objective is to start with basic actions that are most likely to support good health. Despite the popular belief that cyber hygiene is the IT department’s job, cyber hygiene goes beyond departmental borders and should be etched into the organization’s culture.
Meanwhile, threats go beyond technology and external hackers. Human fallibility is often the root cause of breaches. Cyber-attackers are no longer breaking in—they’re logging in using weak, default, or compromised passwords. Once they compromise security measures, adversaries are able to inflict real damage by moving latera ..
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