Some types of businesses are more susceptible than others when it comes to the potential for cyberattacks. Businesses with a technological focus, or that have large sums of money as a big feature, are typically more prone to attacks from the cyber underworld.
Among the most vulnerable industries are the ones listed in a story from the WGU website. They include these:
Small businesses
A data breach investigation from Verizon notes that 43 percent of cyberattacks involve small businesses. This is the largest target in their report. The reason? Phishing attacks and malware can have the greatest impact on smaller enterprises. Plus, smaller businesses have fewer resources to devote to security.
Healthcare
This is another area where security risks are growing. The Becker Hospital Review reported that 90% of all healthcare companies have reported a security breach in the last three years. Ransomware is often the culprit.
Financial businesses
Data theft and server attacks have been reported in thousands of banks or other financial institutions. Trojan apps that look like ones banks use have also become prevalent.
Utilities
Earlier this year, the Colonial Pipeline hack pointed out this particularly vulnerable spot in the business world. With energy and other utilities as a multi-billion dollar industry that’s also linked to national security, it’s easy to see why this could be a strong target for cyber criminals.
There are some solid strategies out there that any business can use to help prevent cyberattacks. Harvard Business Review outlined several in a recent article.
Testing is important
Companies should be planning for potential breaches in some way. Monitoring current systems for how resilient they are is an essential part of this, and this also includes the timing of the response to an attack. Segregating networks can be one technique used to slow down a cyberattack.
Look at the supply chain
Taking inventory of your vendors — and how secure they are as well — is an important step to shoring up any vulnerabilities. It doesn’t hurt to ask any suppliers what they have done to ensure they are as secure as you are when it comes to preventing attacks.
As for solutions to prevent cyberattacks, CHIPS has developed our own Zero Trust endpoint protection product, called AppGuard. We have several webinars set for the fall to demonstrate AppGuard and give more details to see if it’s a solution for you. Go to our Calendly site to see dates and times.
