Digital Transformation and The Cloud

In the wake of the pandemic and lockdown that followed, many medium and large sized companies have taken the time to upgrade their cyber security. 81 percent of businesses invested in accelerating and updating their IT infrastructure. This is according to a survey conducted by CensusWide and sponsored by Centrify. The purpose of the survey was to try and understand how IT spending has changed in the past six months since the Pandemic struck. There have been numerous cyber attacks since the lockdown took place. Some of the most notable have included Twitter, the social media platform. On July 15, 2020, hackers used social engineering to gain access to high profile Instagram accounts like Barak Obama, Bill Gates and Elon Musk to trick victims into sending money to a specified address. In the end, more than 130 accounts were impacted and the address received more than $110,000.

Cyber Attacks In 2020 Prove Security’s Important

Most recently, American healthcare company Universal Health Systems experienced a ransomware attack that impacted the systems of hospitals across the world. Another health care organization was hacked in early October. Tennessee-based Community Health Systems was hacked in 28 states after millions of people’s personal information was stolen by cyber criminals. It’s no surprise that the overwhelming majority of businesses have transformed their cyber security in the past 6 months. Medium and small sized firms are adjusting their IT infrastructure to reflect the need for digitally- driven systems. The Covid-19 pandemic forced firms to rely on remote operations to continue. The data reflects this as well. 48 percent of organizations had to speed up cloud migration as a result of the pandemic. Business leaders took swift action when the lockdown came. Many quickly adopted cloud-based solutions or hired a managed IT services company to onboard their team in preparation for remote work. However, the biggest issue was that many companies in a rush to ensure business continuity neglected cyber security. In fact, there were businesses and firms that were completely unprepared to migrate to a remote environment. As a result, they struggled to readjust when they could no longer work out of the office.

Remote Operations Are In Danger Without Cyber Security

This made firms carrying sensitive client information even more vulnerable to attack. And cyber criminals have taken notice. These rushed attempts to continue remotely has led to glaring vulnerabilities in security. Furthermore Cyber security incidents have spiked as result. Cyber security company Malwarebites released an extensive report studying the effects of COVID-19 on business security. Company data and a survey with 200 cyber security experts concluded that remote workers were the cause of 20 percent of security breaches. 24 percent of respondents said their organization paid unexpected breach-related costs after shelter in place orders began.

Cyber Attackers And The Dark Web

On October 21, 2020 a cybersecurity company said it found a hacker selling the personal information of almost 200 million Americans. Much of the data hackers obtain start with a simple social engineering scam. The cyber thief sends a phishing email to an unsuspecting remote employee and they click on a link contained in the email. In the CensusWide study, 51 percent of employees are making secure remote access a top priority. Contrary to this, 27 percent of organization IT leaders say that secure access to various teams, IT services companies and third-party providers is a priority. Large firms were more concerned with cyber security than smaller one, according to the study. This is a bit alarming considering the average cost of an insider-related cyber incident is $7.68 million USD. An IBM and Ponemon Institute Survey showed organization with fewer than 500 employees spent an average of $7.68 million per incident. Considering how so larger businesses are investing in cyber protection, that makes smaller businesses prime targets for hackers. What’s worse is that a January study showed that 43 percent of all SMB’s lacked any type of cyber defense plan. Unfortunately, firms prioritize operation over security and leave themselves open to an attack that could cost them their business. 60 percent of all small companies fail within six months of a cyber attack. There are those who believe they can withstand a cyber attack. However, they don’t consider the fact that even if a business pays a ransom or recovers from a breach, cyber criminals can still use  and sell their data on the darkweb. Dark web marketplaces like Joker’s Stash are infamous for selling social security numbers, credit card information and more.

Conclusion

IT experts and business leaders are understanding the importance of a resilient cloud strategy. Cyber security has become an important factor in transforming and modernizing IT infrastructure. Larger firms were the first to invest in a digital transformation with medium sized businesses following behind. Smaller businesses are now at their most vulnerable as hackers look for easier targets. But with so many organizations experiencing cyberattacks, protecting valuable client data needs to be a priority. Ensuring data compliance is key to securing sensitive client data. Nerds Support is a perfect place to start for a comprehensive cloud migration strategy that protects small and medium sized businesses and modernizes IT.