If it can happen to a website as popular as TechCrunch, it might happen to you too.
It’s tough enough for large global enterprises to build a strong security program. Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) have their own unique set of challenges, the biggest of which might be a lack of financial and professional resources to deploy and maintain the latest technologies.
With cybercriminals making millions – if not billions – of dollars from ransom requests, companies have also been targets of opportunity. While file encrypting ransomware such as CryptoWall have been known to cause financial losses topping $18 million, variants that encrypt the NTFS MFT (Master File Table) – Petya for instance – have been raising concern, as recovery from it involves complete endpoint downtime and significant IT challenges.
SMBs growth by far surpasses enterprise growth, last year reaching a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% when large enterprises explored opportunities to split. Consequently, entrepreneurs have realized that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build businesses, and that technologies can be easily incorporated.
The healthcare industry is under fire these days. Hospitals are falling victim to a cyber-epidemic that is paralyzing their systems and asking for huge ransoms in return.
Cybersecurity has become a major topic of discussion for businesses and organizations of all sizes, as the number of security incidents has spiked, capturing headlines worldwide.
This is a good time to be a managed security services provider—if you believe industry reports about the robust growth of the market. Even if you don’t believe the research, there is plenty of evidence that many organizations are looking for expert help when it comes to strengthening their security posture against a host of potential threats. And service providers can provide that needed assistance.
In 2010, cloud adoption among US small medium businesses (SMBs) was just 5 percent—today, 37 percent are on the cloud, and the percentage will double by 2020, according to Forbes.
Microsoft really really wants your business to upgrade to Windows 10 as soon as possible.
In fact, they are so keen that your firm switches to Windows 10 that they’re sneaking adverts for the upgrade into security patches, and using some controversial tactics to encourage users into shaming their system administrators for not allowing the upgrade to happen.
Two years ago, the world rushed to say the antivirus industry is dead. I disagree simply because antivirus companies do not exist anymore. I haven’t seen a security company that limits its portfolio to one, traditional security (antivirus) solution. Those who’ve tried are dead and gone, but most of them have morphed into cybersecurity companies.
Online extortion is on the rise.
Not only have recent months seen an increase in distributed denial-of-service attacks with demands that companies pay up to have their website returned to normal working order, and even the theft of confidential data with threats that it will be released to the public if financial demands are not met, but there has been a noticeable increase in ransomware attacks too.
With a turbulent 2015 and a 15-year-history of fighting malware as a guide, here is what 2016 may bring for the security industry, the online criminal underworld, and corporate and private consumers.
