5 Scary Cybersecurity Statistics and Recommendations to Strengthen Security

A cyberattack can shut down your business, destroy government organizations and incapacitate hospitals and other healthcare providers. Here are five cybersecurity statistics and recommendations that will get you thinking about strengthening your IT security.

  1. 29% of Breaches Involved the Use of Stolen Credentials in 2018
    Compromised passwords are a huge threat to businesses. Passwords can be hacked with brute force attacks, stolen through email scams and purchased on the dark web.

    Our Recommendation: Tighten your password security protocols and implement authentication methods like two-factor authentication (2FA) and single sign-on SSO for enhanced security. Organizations should have dark web monitoring to proactively check whether their compromised credentials are being shared. Organizations can take steps to prevent a data breach from occurring with dark web monitoring.

  2. The Average Cost of a Data Breach in 2019 was $3.92 Million
    Data breaches are very costly. The U.S. experiences the highest average data breach cost at about $8.2 million.

    Our Recommendation: Use an endpoint management solution that integrates antivirus, backup and patch management in a single console.

  3. Small Companies Lose Over $100,000 Per Ransomware Incident on Average
    Over the past couple of years, ransomware has been on the rise, knocking out some city services and forcing others to revert to paper records. The effects of a ransomware attack can be very damaging to small or midsize businesses. These attacks are expensive and can be attributed to costs associated with downtime and recovery.

    Our Recommendation: Implement a dependable Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution that automatically tests backups to ensure recovery. Choose a BDR solution that is integrated with your endpoint management tool.

  4. 43% of Security Breaches Affect SMBs
    Small and medium-sized businesses will continue to be primary targets of cyberattacks in 2020. Many businesses struggle with IT budget constraints and lack proper cybersecurity resources, which hackers regularly take advantage of.

    Our Recommendation: Automate patch management to stay current with security patches.

  5. In 2018, 32% of Data Breaches Involved Phishing Activity
    Phishing is a method of gathering personal information, including login credentials, through the use of deceptive e-mails to get unsuspecting recipients to click on malicious links. In 2019, Phishing featured in 78% of cyber espionage incidents.

    Our Recommendation: Organizations can avoid phishing attacks by training their employees to identify phishing emails and to report any phishing activity. Tools are available to help with cybersecurity training along with identifying and isolating phishing emails.

Cybersecurity attacks and data breaches can be a gigantic threat to your business. It is critical for your organization to establish a plan to alleviate security risks.

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