The development of modern technology offers plenty of benefits to our society. It makes business processes more efficient, allows us to reduce our impact on the environment, and enables us to communicate more easily with our loved ones.
Yet, there are some downsides to the rapid advancement of our technological capabilities. One of those is cybercrime. With so much important data and information now stored digitally, the opportunities for hackers – and the potential consequences for the victims – are greater than ever before.
But just how common are cyber attacks? How can they affect the victims? And what can be done to limit their threat?
How Common Are Cyber Attacks?
In March 2020, the UK government released the results of a survey into cybersecurity breaches and how they’d affected businesses and charities. Almost half (46%) of businesses had suffered an attack or a breach in the preceding 12 months – like figures recorded in 2017. Meanwhile, more than one in four charities (26%) suffered an attack. This trend shows a gradual increase, from 19% in 2018 and 22% in 2019.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact, too, with cybercrime estimated to be up 600%. Hackers and thieves saw the global crisis as an opportunity to use phishing email scams to target potential victims.
How Can Cyber Attacks Affect the Victims?
Hackers can use sensitive personal data to commit identity theft or even take money from the victims’ accounts. This creates a major financial headache, and although in many cases banks will return those funds if criminal activity is proven, it can be an extremely distressing time.
The impacts on businesses can be significant, too. If a cybercriminal manages to get hold of financial records or employees’ personal data, the company stands to suffer significant reputational and economic damage.
What Can Be Done to Guard Against Cyber Attacks?
How to Prevent Cyber Attacks?
These threats are likely to exist, but some measures can be taken to reduce the risk. For example, businesses can put their staff through training courses that educate them on spotting any red flags and encourage them to report any issues immediately.
Meanwhile, employees working from home should utilise a VPN service (https://nordvpn.com/). When you connect to the internet through a VPN, your data packets go through an encrypted tunnel, securing your data, masking your IP address, and redirecting it to one of the servers of the VPN provider. You can sit in front of your computer in the UK and pretend to be from the USA. Also creating strong passwords, ensuring software is up to date, and generally being alive to any potential threats – such as suspicious emails containing links – are all steps that can be taken to guard against cybercrime.
