With the improving technology, such as sd wan solutions, and information security systems, available on the market, some large-scale enterprises especially put a close eye on the cyber security aspect. However, not every single entity is aware of the need to have control over the threats. Why is it important to keep the information and data safe in the first place? Overall, reasons could be categorized into two aspects: External or internal & Threats or Opportunities.
External Threats
- Stolen data
Data could be easily stolen if physical and digital protections are not sufficient for the intended crimes. Not only does the stolen data demonstrate the unprofessional image of the company, but also weakens customers’ confidence in the brand as they would be worried about the stolen customer data would be used in inappropriate ways by the crackers.
The threat is posted more frequently in these few years, while cloud services, especially multi cloud, are increasingly adopted in many companies. The remote working trend makes the risk greater, and firms should never overlook the risk behind the advantages of this easy and efficient way to share tasks among employees.
- Data damage/loss
You may have heard of people discussing big data in recent years. Indeed, big data offers a large number of juicy sources for firms to dig in. The treasures are hidden in the patterns and companies have done tons of analysis on it, no matter whether they are doing so manually or with the help of AI. When it comes to the situation that the firm would like a team to do comprehensive research on it, it is pretty usual to use private network solutions to work virtually and prevent the network from being accessed by external users. But it is also very common to encounter the situation where the data is damaged or lost because of the intended cybercrime, again. It could greatly lower the efficiency of a firm to improve if the necessary data is affected.
Internal Threat
- Inappropriate use of resources for personal benefit
Thinking that external hackers would be the major threat to your company’s cyber security? In fact, to your surprise, it is a “no”. According to research, cybercrimes are carried out by internal users more often than external ones. Unexpected access and inappropriate use of data are hard to spot. It could cause a big problem depending on how the internal users make use of the data. It is always recommended to the company to keep track of the access authority of your digital assets, which are data and information in this case, and know exactly who uses the data during which period.
External Opportunity
- Competitive advantage
Cybersecurity could enhance a company’s reputation, as well as help them to capture a competitive advantage in the market. When a disaster happens, disaster recovery plans are crucial for a company to get back on the right track and operate back to normal. Cloud data center is a very popular choice due to its flexibility, while the service quality and degree of protection it offers remains at a high level. Protecting the data could also make sure that the company is in a healthy condition where analysis on how the company could outcompete the competitors could be done without barriers.
Internal Opportunity
- Increase in employees’ productivity
With a well-structured information security plan, problems caused by the vulnerability in cyber security would be greatly reduced. Never omit the risk of that. It takes large quantities of time and effort for employees to deal with the mess after a severe information incident, for example, the PR work and comprehensive recovery actions. Prevention is always better than cure. Unified threat management is a common tool for the company to have comprehensive prevention on the overall level. As the minor threats that are avoidable are monitored and prevented from happening, the employees would be able to focus more on their core duties.