Now’s the time to pay attention to cyber security threats

Ali Cain

May 28, 2021 – 12.00pm

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While COVID-19 has helped accelerate digital transformation, many security issues that existed two years ago are still prevalent today, according to new research by Sophos.

Moreover, while cyber security remains a focus, few businesses have allocated more budget to this important function. According to the second edition of Sophos’s report, The Future of Cyber security in Asia Pacific and Japan, 69 per cent of companies agree COVID-19 was the strongest catalyst for upgrading cyber security strategies and tools in the past 12 months.

Cyber security remains a focus, few businesses have allocated more budget to this important function. Getty.

Sophos’s research found skills, budget and organisational apathy were the top challenges facing organisations from a cyber risk perspective, with many businesses stating they cannot keep up with the pace of security developments. Increasingly, organisations are relying on managed service providers to address challenges such as skills shortages, cloud migrations and increased threat activity. While cyber security budgets have not changed, 64 per cent of companies have consolidated their budgets within the IT group, a 14 per cent rise compared to 2019.

Worryingly, 56 per cent of Asia Pacific firms said they have experienced a successful cyber attack in 2021, up from 32 per cent in 2019.

Organisations across Asia-Pacific say they face a number of obstacles when it comes to cyber security, including education, company culture, skills, budgeting and operational management.

Sophos global solutions engineer Aaron Bugal says with threat activity only increasing, it’s imperative the board and C-suite executives are engaged with cyber security.

“Threat actors are becoming far more aggressive targeting organisations, so it’s not a matter of if you will get attacked but when. It’s not enough to rely on in-built anti-virus anti-spam software. It’s essential to take a proactive approach to cyber risk management,” he says.

Front foot first

Every organisation should be planning to respond to a cyberattack.

“Don’t assume you’ll be left alone. If you’re hit by a ransomware attack, you’ll really value having tested your back-ups ahead of time,” explains Bugal. Unfortunately, he says many businesses fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to cyber security.

“Assuming you won’t be hit by a cyberattack immediately puts the business on the back foot. A lot of these attacks are opportunistic or highly automated. Your gateway will be assessed by these attackers and they’ll find a little foothold to get into your organisation, and then they’ll start playing the long game.

“They’ll start auditing your environment, looking for things that are valuable to them, to then set a ransom, which they think you’ll pay. Not taking the threat seriously jeopardises your entire IT security system.”

Cyber security is especially important given how many people shifted to working from home during the pandemic, which exposed many firms’ soft cyber security underbelly. There’s a huge reputational risk to businesses that fail to address this threat.

Says Bugal: “Why chance having to clean up a threat, not being able to earn money or revenue, and, if personal information has been breached, having to notify the regulator? That’s a massive setback for any organisation, which could spell the end for many companies that are already stretched.”

Businesses that have undergone a digital transformation should be concerned about the security aspects of running their operations. Recognising the rising cyber security threat of doing business online, smart businesses are putting in place risk mitigation strategies to address this challenge.

While it feels like life and business is getting back to pre-pandemic times, it is important not to forget that cyber threats are continuing to increase, and your business needs to have the right strategy and technology in place to deal with the risks.

For 24/7 threat hunting, detection, and response delivered by an expert team as a fully-managed service, visit www.sophos.com/en-us/products/managed-threat-response.aspx