Commentary from cyber security firm Smoothwall - cyber attack could cost £92bn
July 2017 by Rob Wilkinson, Corporate Security Specialist, Smoothwall
As news today from Lloyd’s shows that a serious cyber attack could cost the world’s economy £92bn, we have comment from Rob Wilkinson, Corporate Security Specialist at cyber security company Smoothwall:
“This new report highlights the huge financial risks involved in this relatively ‘new’ – but increasingly common – phenomenon of cyber-attacks. While the report does indeed prompt businesses to insure themselves against such hacks, businesses ranging from SMEs to healthcare organisations need to first ensure they have the appropriate security measures in place, otherwise their insurance policies could be worthless. Would you take out home insurance but leave your house keys in the door on your way out every day?
“The two most likely cyber-attacks in the report stem from a cloud hack and software infiltration. Cloud, on the whole, has been largely secure of late, but it is attacks on computer operating systems on businesses worldwide which could cost them serious financial – and consequently reputational – damage in the long run. It’s not surprising financial services companies are most at risk, and as a result tends to be an industry with generally increased cyber security measures in place. It is healthcare and local governments that, despite being ‘least at risk’, could actually be most at risk. Hackers could infiltrate hospitals and steal vital patient information, building up a profile of people over time to use for fraudulent or blackmailing purposes – ‘social engineering’.
“In this vein, every organisation needs to review its internal security systems promptly to ensure they have a layered security defence spanning encryption, firewalls, web filtering and ongoing threat monitoring as well as a proactive stance against threat actors.”