Cyberattacks are becoming more common, and businesses find it challenging to overcome them. In fact, the number of cyberattacks has grown by over 3 million from January to April 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. These attacks can devastate your company through financial, reputational, and legal consequences.

Hence, it is essential to understand what cyberattacks are, how they occur, and the measures you can take to ensure that your business is secure from such attacks.

Why Are Cyberattacks Increasing?

The number of cyberattacks is increasing because of the number of devices connected to the internet. The more devices are connected to the internet, the easier hackers can launch attacks.

Another reason why cyberattacks are increasing is that more and more people are using smartphones and other mobile devices to access business data. The employees' devices are not as secure as your company's systems. Hence, attackers can use their devices to penetrate your company's network.

The remote workforce culture is the third reason cyberattacks are becoming more common. As more and more businesses adopt this new working model, the business network perimeter is diminishing. When the data was within the security perimeter, it was easy for the companies to secure it.

However, when employees work remotely, businesses have to let the data go outside the perimeter to ensure continuity of operations. This is the opportunity that attackers take with both hands. Moreover, most remote working employees don't know the best security practices to protect their devices, making them easily vulnerable to cyberattacks.

What Businesses Are at a Risk of Cyberattacks?

It's a misconception that only large enterprises are at risk of cyberattacks. In fact, small businesses are also at risk because they don't have the resources to ensure their IT infrastructure is secure. Every company that stores data—even if it's just an email address—is at risk of cyberattack.

As long as you have information stored on a computer, then there's always a chance for hackers to get into your systems and steal data or cause other damage.

Impact of Cyberattacks on a Company

Cyberattacks can have a significant impact on a company. These are some devastating consequences a business must face after becoming a victim of cyberattacks.

• Loss of revenue. Cyberattacks can lead to loss of data, which is essential to run your business. Attackers will demand a considerable amount of money to give back your data, leading to a loss of revenue. Moreover, you will also have to invest a lot of money in recovering from the attack.
• Loss of customers. When an attack occurs, customers will feel that their data is not safe with you and would want to cut out all business relations with your company.
• Loss of reputation. Cyberattacks will impact your brand's image. Your customers, stakeholders, vendors, and everyone related to your business will lose trust in your company.
• Legal consequences. Protecting your customers' data is your responsibility. Several compliance rules and regulations ensure that customers' information is safe within every organization. Hence, you might also face legal consequences for not abiding by compliances after an attack.

How Businesses Can Overcome the Growing Concern of Cyberattacks

While the number of cyberattacks is increasing, there are several ways in which businesses can protect their organization. Here are some standard and basic security practices that will act as the first defense line for your company.

Install Antivirus

Installing an antivirus is one of the most effective ways to protect your business from cyberattacks. Antivirus is a must-have for companies that rely on computers and digital devices to conduct their day-to-day operations.

An antivirus is security software that can protect your business from malware, viruses, and other cyber threats. It can also help prevent ransomware attacks by detecting malicious files before they become active in the system and encrypting data on your hard drive.

While there are several options to choose from, each antivirus is different. Hence, you must select an antivirus that can protect your systems effectively and serve your business needs. You can go with Vipre antivirus for the best results. It is an award-winning antivirus with 4.5 ratings from over 1,600 reviews.

Awards, certifications, and reviews signify that Vipre antivirus can address your cybersecurity concerns. The point is to select antivirus software only after researching their work and reviews.

Implement a Zero-Trust Security Model

Businesses can implement a zero-trust security model to overcome the increasing threat of cyberattacks. Zero trust refers to the idea that all devices, users, and applications are untrusted and must be granted access to resources one at a time. It's similar in concept to CIA triage: no matter how urgent your request may seem, you have to wait in line until you get screened by security personnel. The goal is not just to control but also visibility into everything happening on your network so that you can detect anomalies or malicious behavior early on.

A zero-trust security strategy involves segmenting the network so that only certain users are allowed into specific areas. This way, hackers only have limited access if they pass one layer of defense. And even if they do, there are still more layers for them to contend with as they try moving further into your system or stealing data from another department's database.

This makes it much harder for cybercriminals because they need specialized knowledge about each user account before trying anything else. If they can't find the information, their efforts could quickly fail.

Practice Proactive Threat Hunting

Businesses must leverage a proactive threat hunting tool to overcome the growing threat of cyberattacks. Threat hunting tools are used to monitor and detect threats in real-time, so you can prevent them from escalating into massive breaches like Equifax or Anthem. They allow companies to respond quickly to threats and help protect against future threats by providing insight into attack patterns and overall vulnerability management.

Install SIEM, EDR, Firewall, etc.

SIEM, EDR, and Firewall are the most common solutions companies can install to prevent cyberattacks.

Because it is a centralized security platform, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) provides an overview of all security events in one place, allowing you to detect threats before they become too serious. In addition, SIEMs offer many other benefits, such as analyzing logs and alerts that help organizations respond faster when an attack happens so they can isolate the affected systems as quickly as possible.

EDR takes a different approach by focusing on detecting intrusions rather than preventing them from happening in the first place. By continuously monitoring your network traffic for suspicious activity—such as abnormal patterns or unusual requests—EDR will help you determine if someone has gained unauthorized access to any part of your network before damaging or stealing anything vital from it.

Firewalls are another device businesses use to actively block incoming malicious traffic while allowing legitimate communication through their system without any issues.

Conclusion

As technology evolves, businesses must also be keen on staying ahead of cybercriminals. The threat landscape is constantly changing, and a business's security posture should always keep up with it. At the same time, they need to implement cybersecurity measures that can protect their companies from cyberattacks. Proactive threat hunting and zero-trust security are two ways to ensure that your organization is prepared for cyberattacks.