Table of Contents
Emerging Need for Cybersecurity
5 Major Industries Most At-Risk for Data Breaches.
Key Takeaway
Conclusion
FAQ
Emerging Need for Cybersecurity
As a rule of thumb, whenever you hear the word "breach" you can assume that you'll be hearing about a loss of income, investors, and customers. In the digital age, such events are far from surprising; it is increasingly possible (and cheap) for online criminals to steal and sell huge amounts of data. In today's blog, we examine the industry's most at-risk for data breaches.
Many business owners believe in this very common myth, that if they have been cyberattacked, their security posture is up to date. Let me tell you, this "it won't happen to us” notion is FALSE! If you too think along these lines, let me help you reconsider. This is easily the biggest blunder for any organization. Every business is prone to the possibility of a data breach, a system hack, a virus or ransomware assault, or the unauthorized use of their network's processing capacity by hackers.
Data breaches are a major concern for businesses everywhere, but not all industries are created equal. Businesses are trying to figure out how to deal with the issues at hand.
Most of the time, a business's main concern is that people's data may have been stolen or leaked. This can lead to a variety of problems, most frequently identity theft or credit.
According to a study by Juniper Research, cyber-crime is on the rise, and it costs businesses $400bn per year. The worst part is that in the past few years, there has been a spike in the number of data breaches that occur. In this blog, we'll take a look at 5 industries that are most at-risk for a data breach.
Organizations inside these industries need to prepare for and protect against all cyberattacks.
5 Major Industries Most At-Risk For Data Breaches.
1. Businesses
Businesses of all sizes are threatened by a broad range of cybersecurity issues. E-commerce and retail companies, for example, are vulnerable to attacks that target the large amounts of personal and financial data they collect and store.
Similarly, small businesses often lack the resources or expense priorities to adequately protect themselves from cyber threats. Some new and even old businesses also end up cutting costs on cybersecurity. This could, in the long run, cost you 10x the money you save now.
2. Healthcare & Medical Organizations
Healthcare and medical organizations are a frequent target for cyberattacks as they too collect a large amount of personal and financial data. The medical research centers that fall under this category are vulnerable too.
To protect this sensitive information, healthcare entities need to have strong security measures in place to comply with HIPAA regulations. However, even with these compliance standards, healthcare organizations are still vulnerable to exploitation.
3. Financial Institutions & Banks
Banking, credit, and financial institutions are high-value targets for attackers because they deal in what attackers want most: money and personal information.
For financial institution compliance, the FDIC mandates penetration testing. Banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions must make sure that customer information is secure and secret, that procedures are in place to prevent unauthorized access to information, and that consumer and customer information is disposed of properly.
4. Government Sector
There are a lot of different reasons why someone might target the government or military with a cyberattack. They could be foreign powers trying to spy on or harm a competitor, hacktivists making a political statement, or criminals trying to make money by stealing personal information from government databases. No matter the motivation, these types of attacks usually make headlines, so it's no surprise that this industry is well represented on this blog.
5. Education Sector
There are several reasons why educational institutions are targeted. The main reason usually is the theft of valuable intellectual property from campus research. Some other threats to these universities/schools/colleges are student and employee personal information theft, computer processing power, etc.
Additionally, higher education institutions have a great turnover in their population, which can result in poor password protection and susceptibility to social engineering.
Key Takeaways
Organizations across various industries are at risk of cyberattacks. Cyberattacks are growing enormously.
Businesses or organizations in one industry could be more at risk as compared to others. Such as small businesses, which do not invest much in strengthening their security get attacked most often.
There are other industries as well, such as Healthcare Sector, Banking & Finance, Education, and Government sectors that are most at risk.
The companies in these sectors have to protect crucial data from theft. They also have to comply with many security regulations such as HIPAA, failing which they will have to pay hefty penalties.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is a big issue for a lot of businesses of all types, but there are some industries that are particularly susceptible to cyberattacks. If a business has a large amount of sensitive data or a system that could be used as a tool for cybercrime, hackers will be more likely to target them.
It's no secret that cybercriminals are targeting every industry they can. But just how big of a threat are they to some of the biggest industries in the world? These 5 industries are most at risk for cyberattacks including Businesses, Banks, Healthcare, Education & Government Sector. These industries need to use cybersecurity to protect data.
If your business is on this list of vulnerable industries, you can get in touch with us. You will be able to analyze your current security status or implement a cybersecurity system if you don’t have one in place right now.
FAQs
Are businesses of every size at risk of cyberattack?
Yes, businesses of every size are at risk. However, some studies have shown that SMBs are more at risk as compared to larger business conglomerates, simply because they are able to invest more in their security postures.
What are the odds of getting hacked?
According to a press release by Duke CFO Global Business Outlook, more than 80 percent of U.S. companies indicate their systems have been successfully hacked in an attempt to steal, change or make public important data.
Is cyber security expensive?
An average company is likely to spend somewhere between 6% and 14% of its annual IT budget on cybersecurity.
We’ve written this blog to give you some insight into the industries. We hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you have any questions or concerns about cyber security, we are always excited to help you at iBovi Strategic Security. You can subscribe to our email list and get more such insights and important news and updates!