Despite the increase in cyber-attacks over the last few years, many SMB’s are slow to take action by investing in a web threat protection solution and installing an effective email security system. For that reason, we’ve put together 5 different industries that are most susceptible to cyber-attacks and how criminals can use such critical business information to cause devastating effects.
Industry # 1 – Banking and Finance
This is a good industry to start with because it’s not hard to imagine why hackers may have a particular interest in banking and finance businesses. Through online attacks, criminals can get access to a wide range of important data such as bank account numbers and home addresses. In fact, on average, banks experience 85 attempted breaches each year and around 36% of these attacks successfully retrieve sensitive information. That being the case, even if you just dabble in this kind of business, it’s really important that you have top-notch cybersecurity measures in place.
Industry # 2 – Health Care
Similar to banking and finance, health care industries also hold a lot of personal and sensitive information. While it may be trickier for cyber criminals to extract financial details for profit, they can choose to hold people’s health records – including names, addresses and conditions – as a ransom for huge amounts of money in return. This happened quite recently back in 2017, with the NHS falling prey to one of the largest cyber-attacks called WannaCry. What’s more, criminals in the cyber world are only getting smarter – which is why you need to ensure that you up your game with your email and web threat protection.
Industry # 3 – Education
The focus here is particularly on higher education, as Universities hold very sensitive documents – such as dissertations and exam results – which makes these an appealing target to criminals. In fact, at least 30% of Universities are attacked each hour. This sort of hack could compromise a lot of students along with the reputation of the facility itself. This shows that it’s extremely important that you have a good cyber security solution in place.
Industry # 4 – Energy
As you know, energy is an essential part of our daily lives, making energy networks a popular and susceptible target for cyber criminals. Hackers could potentially cause a widespread power outage, as well as possibly gaining access to power grids, nuclear facilities and power generation facilities worldwide – which could impact countless millions. As you can imagine, it’s vital that a bullet-proof web threat protection solution is deployed to help prevent any damage.
Industry # 5 – Government agencies
Yet another industry that contains a large amount of public information. From tax records to healthcare information, it’s obvious why government bodies could be a possible target. What’s more, if a governments system is hacked, criminals are able to gain access to numerous important documents that many criminal groups could benefit from. That being so, it’s important that governments take extra care to make sure they have an effective security solution in place.
It’s clear from the above scenarios that there’s a number of different ways that these industries could fall prey to cyber criminals. However, even if your business doesn’t come under any of these, it doesn’t mean you’re not at risk – it can happen to anyone, anywhere and be extremely detrimental to business. To learn more about getting an effective web threat protection solution for your company called Advance Computer Systems today on 01904 653789 or click here.