Boost your business' cybersecurity

In today’s interconnected digital landscape, no business or brand is immune to the perils of cyber-attacks and data breaches. The risk to businesses spans from operational disruption or reputational damage to financial loss or even closure.

According to IBM, the average cost of ransomware attacks in 2022 reached an eye-watering $4.54m.

And it’s not just a concern for large corporations. In Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Report, 43% of cyber-attacks target at SMEs. Worryingly, only 14% are capable of defending themselves.

Building a culture of organisational resilience should be a priority for all types of companies. Due to the unpredictability of attacks, it’s imperative that businesses keep pace with the threat landscape.

The case for increased cybersecurity

In the post-Covid era, cyber risks have grown in frequency and sophistication. Global attacks increased by 38% in 2022, with North America, Latin America and Europe experiencing the highest rates. Put another way, hackers attack every three seconds. That’s 26,000 times daily.

One reason behind the sudden increase in cybercrime has been the shift towards remote working. In contrast to the traditional office workspace, where you have sophisticated technologies working to secure IT equipment like desktops and a corporate local area network, home networks are far more vulnerable.

Hence, why it’s essential to use a software-defined network. This way, businesses can guarantee connectivity and ensure their employees have safe network access from anywhere. By using solutions like SD-WAN, companies can direct traffic and automatically assign requests to a particular path based on bandwidth availability. What’s more, it’s highly customisable.

For example, if you needed to create a new connection — for those higher bandwidth tasks — you could create a segmented route, enabling those business-critical requests to bypass the higher volume activity and reduce latency.

Many businesses have moved towards a bring-your-own-device model to ensure 24/7 access to business data from anywhere. For instance, employees can access various professional and personal applications on their work-related devices. This has increased unnecessary access, with some employees staying logged into applications they last used months ago, creating ample opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit.

With a Virtual Private Network, your employees can connect to the corporate network wherever they are. And any data they send is automatically encrypted.

So, when implementing multi-factor authentication, best practice advises conducting regular updates and using rate limiting to prioritise employees that need higher bandwidth. Consequently, this also supports a safer network for everyone.

Future proof against social engineering attacks

If you’ve ever been manipulated into downloading an app or opening a website, this probably resulted from a social engineering attack. Over 75% of targeted cyberattacks start with an email, making phishing one of the top causes of data breaches, followed by stolen credentials and ransomware.

To keep your business safe and mitigate against social engineering, Vodafone’s Lookout Mobile Security protects businesses from malicious apps that seek to steal sensitive data and sends alerts warning users of unencrypted networks, operating system vulnerabilities and phishing attempts from browsers, email and SMS.

Invest in device safety

Today, there are 14 billion connected devices, and that figure is projected to nearly double in the next five years. Choosing devices and systems that are easy for employees to use is essential to clear confusion and eliminate the need for people to download external server add-ons.

Also, regularly updating them against the latest threats is vital to protect your business from mobile malware and data theft.

For example, Vodafone Secure Net protects against viruses, malware and phishing when you and your employees browse the internet, use apps, download files or email your mobile devices.