Resources to improve business cybersecurity

“Security needs to be part of the way organizations think – holistically – about their business. There is a great deal at stake: their brands, their reputation, their intellectual property, and their customers’ data. All of these things are at risk. Organizations need to take a systemic approach to minimizing that risk through an appropriate security posture”

-David Goeckeler, Senior VP, Security Business Groups at Cisco

Network security is a growing challenge for organizations. According to the 2015 Midyear Security report from Cisco, 2015 is proving to be a year of unprecedented speed in the innovation, resiliency, and evasiveness of cyber attacks. Adversaries are intent on overcoming all barriers to their success. As fast as the security industry can develop technologies to block and detect threats, miscreants pivot or change their tactics altogether.

This is a sign that cyber attacks are becoming more creative and that our networks are not invulnerable.

Some of the historic breaches of all time could have been easily avoided with more attention on cybersecurity.

Target: In 2013, Target experienced the second largest cyberattack in history. The retail chain was crippled for two weeks as 40 million credit card numbers, 70 million addresses, and confidential client data was stolen from their network. According to the NYTimes, the attack cost Target almost $148 million in losses- a figure expected to continue into well over 1 billion dollars over the next decade.

Home Depot: In 2014 Home Depot experienced a series of attacks that has cost the chain over $62 million in losses, as well as considerable damage to their corporate image.

Neiman Marcus: In December 2013, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus experienced an extensive 6-month cyberattack in which 350,000 credit card files were stolen from their network. The attack targeted customers who had shopped in stores as early as January 2013. According to the NYTimes, approximately 2,400 of the stolen card information have been used fraudulently since the attack.

Cybersecurity is no longer a problem for enterprise companies.

Organizations of any size are being targeted daily by threats both domestic and overseas. Hackers are not the only threat. Attacks can also originate from your competitors and former employees.

Cybersecurity is a big job

Unfortunately, most companies are not prepared to withstand a cyberattack effectively. Many companies never think about cybersecurity until after a breach has occurred. Others have invested in some cybersecurity but are not making it a priority and are still at risk.

Cybersecurity is more than a firewall

Organizations can no longer rely on a firewall as their only line of defense from cyber attacks. Instead, a defense-in-depth strategy and ongoing support is required to give your network the best defense. Defense–in-depth means there are several layers of technology protecting your information. If a virus or intruder successfully penetrates one layer, there are multiple others designed to catch threats and protect your data. If your network security solution includes a firewall, Edge Intrusion prevention (IPS) and Server Facing Edge Intrusion prevention (IPS), endpoint protection, web and URL filters, vulnerability management and end user education, you have defense-in-depth protection.