How to patch the $12.2b hole in your business

CYBERATTACKS cost businesses billions of dollars in damages each year.

Take last year’s WannaCry, for example; CBS News reported that globally businesses face up to US$4 billion in losses. Another high profile attack in 2017 dubbed NotPetya, resulted in revenue losses at around US$1.2 billion, according to Cybereason.

Businesses in Malaysia can cumulatively lose up to US$12.2 billion in the event of a cyberattack, according to figures released by Microsoft. That’s more than four percent of Malaysia’s GDP.

With so much at stake, organizations should take a more proactive role in ensuring they are protected against threats. Here are five best practices based on the study to ensure organizations can better prevent to cyberattacks.

Using cybersecurity to help with digital transformation

Separating cybersecurity practices from your digital transformation (DX) efforts can create frustration.

In fact, cybersecurity is crucial in guiding your DX efforts, keeping the company safe throughout the transition. On the flip side, DX encourages companies to ditch old practices that are no longer relevant.

Get the fundamentals right

Over 90 percent of cyber incidents can be prevented by maintaining the basic best practices.

This includes strong passwords, using multi-factor authentication, as well as constantly updating operating systems, software, and anti-malware protection.

It’s more than just security tools – it’s also important to train staff and set policies so that these steps will be followed.

Keep it simple

You don’t need many complex tools to secure your business. Keeping it simple means our security operations can get easily accustomed to a single system instead of learning and mastering several different ones.

Having one set of tools that are best suited for your company’s needs can ensure maximum coverage, especially if it is made to integrate with other systems in your company.

Continuously review

Compliance isn’t a one-off exercise; it requires constant assessment and review. Organisations should regularly conduct tests to check if any gaps have emerged, and address the gaps in a timely manner.

Board members should monitor not only industry regulations but also whether the organization is maintaining and improving security best practices

Take advantage of AI and automation

There is limited talent in security. Automation and AI can help improve an organization’s capabilities and capacities in security.

Not only is AI able to detect anomalies that are easily missed, it also provides reasonings ad recommend appropriate actions to take. Already AI-powered security is deployed in the cloud to help handle the huge volumes of data.

Cybersecurity on its own is useless. The technology needs to be integrated with the people and processes to ensure a smooth rollout. The five best practices ensure that companies are guarded against immediate attacks, as well as allowing them to respond better in the event of an attack.

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