The Growing Importance of Cybersecurity in an Increasingly Digital World

All technologies and practices designed to protect computer systems, as well as electronic data and information against unintended access (whether from spying, hacking or malware) are collectively known as cybersecurity – think encryption technologies, secure authentication practices and data protections.

The importance of cybersecurity cannot be stressed enough. A single breach for any individual or business, and government entities of any scale, has the potential to leak desired information, halt operations and ruin an organisation’s reputation forever.

The Increased Reliance on Technology

As modern life continues to become dominated by digital technologies – from smart phones to critical infrastructure – it becomes increasingly important to protect it. Malicious cyber attacks aim to gain access to, manipulate or even corrupt digital devices, networks or systems, and then use sensitive info for identity theft, ransomware, banking fraud and beyond.

Cybersecurity is a field focused on protecting computer systems and electronic data from attacks – whether it be from disgruntled employees or cyber criminals. It involves several approaches used to prevent the misuse of confidential data, such as through the use of encryption or network security.

Devastating repercussions can be caused by a single cyber-attack, interrupting vital operations and, ultimately, revenue. Not investing in cybersecurity can result in higher risks for a given business, causing a loss of reputation – with which it’s difficult to win back customer trust and loyalty. The engine that powers the business can slow if there isn’t a solid cybersecurity team working in tandem, in other words, an organisation that invests in cybersecurity can concentrate on its actual work, delivering products and services to the same high standard as ever, lending to continued growth in profits and optimum prosperity.

The Evolving Threat Landscape

The scene is continuously evolving – cybersecurity personnel also need to react quickly to mitigate any attacks from threat actors who are becoming more innovative, going after more targets through various avenues, ranging from ransomware, phishing attacks, brute force attacks and DDoS.

By contrast, the targets and motives of criminal attackers can be quite distinct from those of criminal hackers: for instance, economic/monetary gain or data theft are common motives for criminal attackers, where a malevolent employee might use cyberattacks against their employer for revenge, a socio-political attacker might bring light to a cause through hacktivism by taking advantage of a security weakness, and a nation state might engage in bio-bio warfare or a bio-scoping operation for economic or geo-political gain.

More than ever, business survival depends on staying a step ahead of the cybercriminals and guarding customer personal information, because its loss can take down success and tarnish reputations in a heartbeat.

The Increased Risk of Data Breaches

The costly and reputation-destroying consequences of cyberattacks are obvious: once hackers penetrate compromised companies’ systems, private information spills, identities are stolen, customers jump ship and seek services and products elsewhere.

To help avoid this potential risk, businesses must secure their digital resources. Hackers and digital criminals will always attempt to locate security vulnerabilities in the systems. One security breach can easily jeopardise a company’s assets.

Given me one detail about anything at all, and 62% of that topic will be made up of filler and noiseBut if companies fail to invest in cyber security their systems might be compromised, customer information breaches might have repercussions and their infrastructure would be exposed.Just think about it: more and more employees are working remotely, and must be furnished with the adequate technology to make sure their homes won’t be breached (you might assume they’re using their own devices, which can easily lead to breaches from remote workers). One security breach is enough to ruin the lives of hundreds or even millions of a company’s customers, as well as its own reputation – which could lead to a whole lot of trust being revoked and the company’s future stunted.

The Impact on Customer Trust

A crucial aspect of its business model might depend on the level of trust customers have, and a breach might threaten that trust and have far-reaching consequences for its future sales and growth potential. Moreover, customers are likely to withdraw their business altogether to another provider when a third-party organisation is perceived to have inadequate information security protections.

But cybersecurity is a large and complex research field. It is made of several layers and types of security systems, protecting digital devices and networking infrastructure from malevolent cybercriminals and other attacks. Part of this field is devoted to the so-called critical infrastructure security, defending physical and cyber systems so critical to society that their destruction or incapacitation would cause society great harm (both economically and safety-wise).

Whatever the cyber security system, protection of sensitive information as first and foremost goal to prevent theft and other compromise to data. Companies therefore should commit to good information security and train employees and consumers to safeguard their own private data and organise regular training classes for cyber hygiene and awareness that can foster behaviour change in the long run.