Why Overconfidence and Complacency Are Becoming the Biggest IT Cyber Security Risks for Established Corporations

Thousands of businesses and organisations make broad-scope assumptions about their approaches to IT cyber security or believe that the data and digital assets they own aren’t valuable enough or accessible enough to become a real target for cybercriminals.

Even multinational corporations—including those with incredibly developed infrastructures who we might assume have robust and future-proof strategies—have been found to neglect cybersecurity. For example, the European Central Bank evaluated bank IT risk management and concluded that banks across the EU needed to urgently revise and improve their controls.

Likewise, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK stated that complacency was more dangerous than hackers after the organisation fined a construction company £4.4 million for failing to protect sensitive data from theft.

To help you avoid data breaches, avoidable security threats, ransomware, and preventable intrusions, we’ll share tips and insights about how to sidestep a complacent attitude to IT security and some of the fairly simple policies you can adopt to keep your cyber defences on point now and long into the future.

Why Are Bigger Entities Often Less Proactive About Implementing Cybersecurity Solutions?

There is no one cause or factor behind this trend, but we often find that smaller organisations and start-ups are keenly aware that they do not have the in-house expertise, analytical resources or knowledge to track suspicious entry attempts, assess security risks, or guarantee that their critical infrastructure is protected from all possible attack vectors.

This means many invest sufficient time and energy in pre-emptive malware protection and safeguards around their key computer systems, alongside security awareness training for personnel to avoid social engineering and other similar styles of attacks.

Within the ecosystems of bigger companies, often with thousands of authorised users who have legitimate access permissions and log into databases, operating systems and networks from countless locations and devices, those risks are multiplied many times over – but less well managed.

Much of this is thought to be about reliance on outdated protection, assuming that unauthorised access attempts will be automatically deflected by antivirus software or password controls or thinking that internal IT teams have the capabilities to manage all attacks, vulnerabilities and security threats.

Depending on the same security structures that have worked for years isn’t a failsafe or even a reasonably reliable strategy, since new risks emerge literally every day and every hour and are exacerbated by the complexity and variety of connected devices we use in modern workplaces.

The Vital Importance of Keeping Pace With Increasingly Sophisticated Cyber Attacks

Evolutions in internet connectivity, emerging technologies, cloud environments, smart devices, and IOT functionality all create more potential points of entry for security breaches and easier ways for attackers to target sensitive information and data—commonly as part of a ransomware attack.

Older and outdated firewalls, email filters, and antivirus software systems cannot stamp out or control new vulnerabilities, which is why an advanced approach to digital security are essential to avoiding reputational and monetary risks.

As we saw in the above example, data thefts and security attacks can result in not only losing sensitive data or feeling compelled to pay a ransomware demand but also in your entity falling foul of data protection legislation and facing serious repercussions.

Other relevant reasons that cutting-edge cyber security is an essential, rather than a nice-to-have, include:

• Rises in social engineering attacks, where cyber criminals mimic a known entity, partner, service provider, or colleague, using their knowledge of the digital world to prompt a legitimate staff member to transfer money, share a password or grant them access to a controlled system.
• More IOT devices with online connectivity and direct links with databases, where everything from a fitness tracker to a fridge or a physical access control system might be accessed through a tablet, laptop or mobile phone.
• Greater trends for remote work, where colleagues are often using connected devices in places without a secure internet connection or failing to reset strong passwords on every device to prevent unauthorised access.

In short, the larger, more devolved your organisation and the greater flexibility and versatility your workforce enjoys, the greater the number of potential attack vectors and risks to your corporation—and the more urgency we’d recommend you inject into updating your cybersecurity protection.

How to Tackle Overconfidence in Organisational Ability to Manage Digital Threats

We’d often recommend a time-critical cyber security audit to analyse gaps and vulnerabilities in your IT cybersecurity that need to be resolved as swiftly as possible, whether there is a glaring issue within your network security or you enable open access to operating systems that are at imminent threat of a data breach.

In-House Cybersecurity Training

The next steps may depend on the nature and infrastructure of your enterprise, but security awareness training is hugely beneficial, especially for bigger workforces where many ignore security within staff inductions or assume that every new recruit is as security-conscious as their longer-standing management team.

When all staff comply with robust security policies, understand how to spot emerging cybersecurity incidents, regularly change their passwords, use only approved, secure devices, and take the right security measures to protect the data they have access to, the risk of human error immediately falls.

Ongoing Digital Security Monitoring

Businesses may need to examine their prevention and detection strategy, where they have the assurance of professional cybersecurity assistance and ongoing cloud security patching and maintenance.

For example, monitoring network traffic and activities and using zero-trust architecture can ensure that any suspicious or unusual actions are flagged, investigated, and siloed from high-value information.

Disaster Recovery Planning

Finally, it’s incredibly important to have a continuity plan, including disaster recovery and data backup facilities. This means that if the worst were to happen and your business was a victim of a cyber-attack, ransomware attempt, or even insider threat, you would have a protocol that you can put into action quickly and preserve data, intelligence, and records to prevent a complete loss of productivity.

For more information and independent guidance on analysing your cyber security approach and making rapid, effective improvements, you are welcome to contact the Jera team to schedule an initial cybersecurity audit or to discuss any specific concerns or challenges you need help with.