The majority (83 per cent) of businesses feel confident that their organization is sufficiently protected against a data security breach. However, The Rt Hon Michael Fallon, MP for the UK’s Ministry of Defence, warns these institutes to avoid complacency in order to continue to fend off such attacks.
“Today we stand on the frontline of a virtual war,” said Fallon at the 2015 Cyber Symposium. “And though the warheads launched are invisible, cyber is far from a theoretical threat. Our adversaries, whether revanchist Russia or evil ISIL, are becoming ever more adept and determined to use cyber to force their advantage. Such dangers are only likely to grow.”
Research by YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm, revealed that malware vulnerabilities counted for almost 25 per cent of all weaknesses in businesses, while email security was a secondary concern. Employee education, cloud applications, insider threats and access controls also featured high on the list of threats.
“It’s important that businesses come to terms with the reality of data security breaches. If they don’t think they have been targeted yet, they will be and need to be prepared,” adds Thierry Bettini, director of International Strategy at Ilex International, a European software vendor. “As technology evolves and brings new security risks, businesses should be doing all they can to educate.”
Fallon adds that businesses should invest in digital technologies at the earliest opportunity. This, he says, will allow them to avoid much larger penalties when their security is breached.
