What is a cyber attack?

A cyber attack is any attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer, computing system or computer network with the intent to cause damage. A cyber attack can be launched from anywhere by any individual or group using one or more various attack strategies.

Adverse effects of cyber attacks:

The true cost of cybercrime is difficult to assess accurately. In 2018, McAfee released a report on the economic impact of cybercrime that estimated the likely annual cost to the global economy was nearly $600 billion, up from $45 billion in 2014.

While the financial losses due to cyber crime is significant, Business can also suffer other consequences as an adverse effect of cybercrimes,

A security breach can drop the company’s share value among investors and as a result it will be very difficult to raise capital due to cyber attacks
Importantly, Loss of sensitive data of both company and customers can cause a big reputational damage to the business in addition to that companies can be sued over the insecurity of customer data and maybe fined with charges and penalties
Due to reputational damage, the company may lose a lot of existing of customers and lose the ability to gain new customers which causes their revenue to fall significantly
On an individual level, cyber attacks violate individual privacy and their security of their data particularly malware, identity theft and financial fraud.

While it is not possible to eradicate cyber attacks and crime completely, but it is possible to limit the damage by a significant amount by effective cyber security strategy for the both business and individuals.

The approach to an effective cyber security system should be based on a in defense in depth approach to securing systems, data and networks.

It can be done by the following methods:

Develop clear policies and procedures on cyber security for the business and employers
Create robust cyber security incident response management system to support the procedures
Enable multi-factor authentication (2FA) apps or physical security keys on every online account possible and applications that can be accessed through your network
Create intrusion detection system (IDS) rules that flag emails with extensions similar to company emails to prevent of third-party threats
Training of company’s employees on cyber security procedures and measures to take if there is a security breach.
Maintain websites, endpoint devices and systems current with all software release updates and security patches.
Importantly regularly back up data and information to reduce the damage caused by ransomware or data breach.

The last two points mentioned reduces the possibility of cyber-attack on a individual Level and to prevent financial fraud carefully scrutinize all email requests for transfer of funds to determine if the requests are out of the ordinary and verify the authenticity of money requests by talking to a financial manager.

Cyber security is one of the most important aspects of the fast-paced growing digital world. The threats of it are hard to deny, so it is crucial to learn how to defend from them and teach others how to do it too.