The increase in internet traffic over the past two years is creating a conducive and lucrative market for cybercriminals. According to Microsoft, a 1070% increase in ransomware attacks occurred between July 2020 and June 2021. It’s now estimated that cyberattacks cause as much as $6 trillion in damages a year, and since the start of the pandemic, this figure keeps rising. As more and more people make the move to an online-driven lifestyle, hackers are fast cashing in.
The rise of remote workers has also played a major role in the increase in cybercrime, with many countries seeing major spikes in hacking incidents. Phishing attacks have drastically increased, and many unsuspecting employees have unwittingly shared sensitive company information with cybercriminals. With about 4,000 cyberattacks occurring daily in the United States, the fact of the matter is not how, but when. Detecting and defending against security threats is becoming more important than ever.
Evaluating Current Cybersecurity Within Businesses
Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution to the problem as the online environment is constantly evolving. The likes of cryptocurrencies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence create an environment where hackers thrive. According to Biz Tech, Cryptojacking incidents have risen dramatically, as have IoT and DDoS attacks. For businesses, all of these potential breaches and cyberattacks are cause for concern and many are on the lookout for new ways to protect themselves, their data, and their employees.
Internet protocol address management – or IPAM for short – is a highly underrated safety measure, and often overlooked by businesses within their cybersecurity management. PC Tech magazine explains how businesses should look at moving away from managing Internet protocol (IP) addresses on basic spreadsheets and explore the use of an automated IPAM. With multiple employees using various often unfixed IP addresses, online management and monitoring can become incredibly difficult. IPAM creates a stockroom for IP addresses so that information and details about the current hardware and status of the IP address are collected and monitored.
Heimdal Security, an IPAM provider explains how having access to IP address data improves cybersecurity. It allows administrators to detect and locate potential security breaches and the misuse of devices on a network. By simplifying administration tasks and reducing human error, an IPAM has the potential to enhance reliability and accuracy. By providing accurate data of the origination of the security breach the threat can be eliminated effectively and efficiently. Apart from protecting a company from cyberattacks, an IPAM maintains a healthy network, and this contributes to keeping cyberattacks at bay.
It’s also easy to upgrade and the signs of an outdated IPAM are simple to spot. Like all technology, it can become outdated and inefficient, and if it’s sluggish, lacking in features, unable to keep up with changing technology, or simply no longer efficient, it will require an upgrade.
How to Be Immune
Security Magazine warns all individuals and enterprises that no matter their industry or size, everyone is at risk of a cyberattack. Small and medium enterprises are often a target, as hackers know that cybersecurity isn’t always a priority and that they won’t necessarily budget to mitigate attacks. SMEs also tend to utilize basic security protocols that are easy to penetrate.
Testing and evaluating security systems is imperative, but cybersecurity leaders urge businesses to educate their staff on security policies and risks. In most cases, cyberattacks are caused by human error rather than system failure. HBR reports that 99% of infringements are due to people’s inclination to trust what they read.
Creating a safe cyberspace culture amongst employees is a cost-effective option. But it is only one of the many steps businesses can take towards protecting themselves as the world increasingly moves online.