In May 2020 alone, 8.8 billion records were breached in over 105 unique cases of cyberattacks. One of these billions of records may have held key information that could cause potentially massive financial loss to a corporation.
When speaking about cybersecurity, all data breach cases are serious. In response to cyberattacks, many companies install the best antimalware software, and subscribe to the most secure cloud servers to date. While these are important actions to take, they often overlook the human element of cybersecurity.
Every person is a gatekeeper of data
Even though self-propagating computer worms are able to infect an entire network without the help of user prompts (i.e. activation or transfers), it is still challenging for the malware to enter the network in the first place.
In the past 40 years, there were notable examples of self-hacking malware such as the famous Morris Worm. This worm took advantage of weaknesses and backdoors that were prevalent in Unix at that time, and unintentionally consumed huge computing power.
Today, advancements in operating system security means that malware only has opportunities to enter a computer system by tricking users into downloading them. Malicious hackers have found numerous ways to target fallible individuals – those who lack knowledge and those who are desperate.
In the case of a global crisis, desperation can take control of awareness and logic. For example, malicious hackers took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by sending harmful emails under the pretense of official government or healthcare organizations, which saw success in breaching security.
In other cases, security breach is caused by employees with malicious intent. U.S. law firm Baker Donelson states that internal breaches coincide with employees who leave the organization. “They use their remaining access to steal business intellectual property that they could use at their next job or to assist with other financial crimes.”
Employee security awareness must complement high-tech security software
The bigger your company, the greater the risk of a cyberattack, either as an external or internal threat. It takes only one person to allow access for malicious code to wreak havoc on the entire local network. Therefore, it is necessary for all members of the organization to become aware of cybersecurity risks due to their actions.
Xynexis is committed to improve Indonesia’s standards of cybersecurity through education and training. Learn more about our Security Awareness Program from Xynexis Ignite.
