DIGITAL SECURITY: ANALYSIS & OVERVIEW ON CYBERSECURITY

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One of the fastest growing sectors is cybersecurity. Although the cybersecurity area requires and hires more and more specialized profiles, the frequency of breaches, thefts and cyber attacks increases exponentially each year. The variable that acted as the detonator is the pandemic. The virus emphasized the importance of both remote working and data protection for small, medium and large companies. Since the spread of the pandemic, cyber-crime rose around 600%. An Accenture analysis revealed that in 2021 attacks have increased by 31% compared to the previous year, with an average of 271 breaches per company. Furthermore, it is expected that IoT (Internet of Things) cyberattacks will double by 2025. In this specific case, we are talking about cyber-crimes caused through commonly used electronic devices and household appliances connected to the Internet.
Today, the need to adopt better strategies to keep your data safe is of the essence.

Statistics & Outlook
According to a research by Cybersecurity Ventures, hacker attacks are increasing by 15% every year. At this pace, if in 2015 3 trillion dollars "only" were needed for cybersecurity on a global level, this figure will reach 10 trillion dollars by 2025. These are staggering numbers and those who are affected are often small companies. Thanks to an Accenture report, we know that 43% of total attacks are perpetrated against small businesses. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of up-and-coming companies are able to defend themselves, just 14%. The Ponemon Institute says 45% of SMBs have insufficient security measures to protect themselves and 66% have experienced an attack in the past 12 months. It also reveals what is the most common cyber attack against small businesses: 57% suffer phishing/social engineering.
Security issues go beyond the actual hack. In addition to that, what makes a real difference is the elapsed time between the attack itself and the moment the affected business uncovers the hard truth. According to insightful studies by the IT giant, IBM, it takes an average of 169 days before a company finds out that it has suffered a cyber attack and around 69 days to find a solution and fix the damages. A gap extremely long, according to IBM, which estimates that if a company is able to discover the hack within 30 days it would save more than $1 million.

Shocking cases
2022 has been a year full of hacks, breaches and digital thefts indeed. And this pertains to the situation going on between Russia and Ukraine. The war is also digital: Russia has been attacking IT institutions and infrastructures, while Ukraine, with the help of an army of volunteer hackers, has launched Ddos attacks on multiple Russian IT services, as well as infecting sensitive Russian data with malwares. In April, still in Russian territory, took place what is considered the most serious ransomware attack ever. Hacker group Conti, originally from Russia, attacked the Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica, causing losses to the country worth millions of dollars. To put the severity of that attack into perspective, the President of Costa Rica said it was an unprecedented situation, which led him to declare a national emergency.
Also at the beginning of the year, a major gang known as Lapsus$ stole large amount of data using phishing attacks. The victims were IT and gaming giants, such as Ubisoft, Microsoft, Samsung and Nvidia. Fortunately, an international operation averted further damage with the arrest of seven people, making the Lapsus$ group apparently inactive.

Cybersecurity threats
Cybersecurity sector has been constantly growing lately. Everyday cyber attacks are on the agenda. The latest researches present worrying statistics indeed:

94% of malwares is delivered via email.
85% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human errors.
A ransomware attack occurs every 10 seconds.
Cybercrime's annual global losses are expected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025.