Data Privacy Day
For Data Privacy Day 2022, we are looking at the latest figures published by the Department of Culture, Digital, Media & Sport, for its Cyber Security Breaches Survey.
The most recent survey tells us that, whilst the number of businesses undergoing cyber risk assessments has risen by 3% in the past two years, only 34% businesses are properly assessing their risk, meaning that two thirds of all businesses are painfully unaware of the dangers they are facing.
The remainder of the findings are also a sombre reminder that regardless of company size, location or sector, it’s more important than ever that businesses stay on top of data privacy matters. In particular, we can see that the average annual cost for businesses that have lost data or assets has soared to £8460. That’s more than double the figure published just two years ago.
Of course, one fundamental change in the past two years is that we have been experiencing a global pandemic. Indeed, the survey found that COVID-19 has presented many challenges for organisations’ cyber security.
Remote working typically makes software and hardware upgrades more difficult to action and this inherently leads to increased vulnerabilities.
Crucially, there has been a decrease in the number of identified cyber security attacks or breaches in the past year. If we refer to the other findings, this is unlikely to mean there are less breaches. Rather, the increase in remote working has made it more difficult for organisations to carry out security monitoring, meaning that breaches are going undetected. The implication being that cyber criminals are getting access to sensitive private data and doing what they like with it, often with impunity.
The main take from all of this is that the IT threat landscape continues to change and expand.
Existing threats such as ransomware and crypto attacks continue to affect organisations’ networks and digital assets, whilst even more lucrative cyber-crimes, such as cryptojacking (which steals computing resources from your device to mine cryptocurrency) and man-in-the-middle attacks (where cybercriminals insert themselves between the communications of two parties) are a pervasive threat.
To address these dangers, organisations require increased protection, improved detection and effective response if an attack does compromise one or more systems. Cyber security provisions also need to keep pace with the ever-changing threat landscape.
We’re Here To Help
At Blue Rock, we take a consultative approach to cyber security by providing data governance advice to businesses that are looking to ensure data protection compliance.
This Data Privacy Day, we want to refocus on the worrying statistic that 66% of all businesses simply don’t know the dangers they are facing.
That’s why throughout 2022, one of the things we will be asking all businesses to do is “Find out how vulnerable you are” by undertaking a Cyber Security Audit. Our audit assesses your entire security stance from a Data Protection and Data Compliance standpoint.
Businesses can then use the findings to build an accurate picture of the threats they specifically face, uncover any security vulnerabilities that could be exploited and implement actions to strengthen their defences.
Talk to us about your Cyber Security concerns
We’re happy to help. Ask us your cyber security questions and/or set up a time for us to perform your Cyber Security Audit. Either call us on 0345 369 0103 or complete the enquiry form at the bottom of this page.