State of Cybersecurity: Why the Good Guys Are Losing

Posted: September 22, 2016 to Cybersecurity.

Tags: Ransomware, Data Breach, HIPAA

In the war between cybercriminals and cybersecurity, the good guys are losing, and it's not even close. In 2015, over $3 billion was sunk into startups with the aim of battling hackers in one way or another.  The European Union is investing $2 billion in cybersecurity.  The United States is going to spend a whopping $19 billion. And yet, one recent report said that90% of businesses in Europe have been cyberattacked within the past five years.  Another showed that data breaches increased 15% compared to last year.  Cybercrime rose 20% from 2014 to 2015 and another 20% from 2015 to 2016.  Instances of ransomware alone has risen over 170% in the first half of this year. It's a rising tide, and the healthcare industry has been a huge casualty.  One estimate states that over 80% of health-related businesses and organizations suffered some sort of data breach within in the last 12 months. This is obviously a very problematic and complicated epidemic, but there are things that can be done, including a change in approach.  The way cybersecurity works now, everyone gets the latest doohickey because that's what you're told you should do.  That can help, but stockpiling the latest weapons in the fight against hackers is like quitting cigarettes after you've been diagnosed with lung cancer; it can help, but prevention is better. So don't just jump on the latest cybersecurity trends.  Get a trained professional to take an in-depth look at your company and find out what works best for you.  If you need to find someone for that take, click here. On top of that, remember the acronym KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.  Do the basics: require strong passwords, update them regularly, don't open email attachments and make sure ALL of your employees (and vendors, if possible) are up to date on such best practices.

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