The financial impact of cyber crime is projected to quadruple by 2019…
Cyber crime continues to be a popular format for criminal activity. Not only because of the difficulty to trace the perpetrator, but also because it’s quite lucrative. In 2013 Wall Street Journal projected the cost of cyber crime to exceed $100 million. By 2015, that number rose to $400 million. Now, according to Juniper, the global financial impact for cyber criminal activity will exceed $2.1 trillion by 2019.
When thinking about these numbers, keep two things in mind. First, the total amount includes not only the cost of the crime, but also the cost associated with remediation and disaster recovery. Also, not all breaches and malware attacks are reported. Therefore, this projection is based upon the trends for the attacks that have been disclosed. Imagine if it encompassed every single attack that occurred.
Forbes reported all businesses are at risk. Although we hear the most about major businesses and institutions that fall victim to malware and breaches, it is reported 20% of small and medium business are also targeted.
PC Matic Pro encourages business, of all sizes, to be proactive with their cyber security protection. There are multiple ways to enhance your security protection. First, ensure all applications, operating systems and your security software are all up to date. Updates typically patch security vulnerabilities, so leaving systems outdated may leave an open door for cyber criminals. Second, implement a security software that utilizes application whitelisting technology. Whitelisting technology blocks all unwanted and unsafe programs from executing. Lastly, educate yourself and your employees. Knowing what red flags to look for, will help yourself and your staff identify malicious attacks and prevent falling victim.
