It happened to flagship carriers, a major hotel group and even a tech-savvy drone operator who had a highly anticipated drone performance at Hong Kong’s 2018 Wine and Dine event cancelled due to intruders interfering with the drone control system. The spate of high-profile cyber-attack cases is serving as a powerful wake-up call that it’s high time we look at cyber security seriously.
When even resource-rich companies fall prey to hackers, it underscores the importance to take effective preventive measures to protect critical customer databases and personal information.
Yet, hackers don’t necessarily target only big boys in the corporate world. Individuals could receive phish and ransom emails, or have their email, facebook or other social media accounts hijacked. This could expose victims’ entire contact lists to attacks, or have their hard drive locked up for ransom.
There is no avoiding cyber security risks when the society and people are increasingly interconnected via online communications. We will be more connected than ever when the Internet of Things (IoT) advances in smart city development, linking every device we use daily.
Gartner forecasts that there will be more than 20 billion IoT devices in service by 2020. According to Information Age, 94% of global security professionals expect the frequency of mobile devices attacks to increase rapidly next year. PWC reported that cyber crime was the second-most reported crime in 2016. Microsoft estimates that an attacker can hide within a network for an average of 146 days before being detected, and 63% of network intrusion cases were caused by compromised user passwords and usernames.
The risks of stolen identity and financial losses are very real. Corporate reputation may be hurt and companies could lose the trust of their customers. Such cases are not easily resolved by law enforcement authorities either, as the origins of cyber attacks are notoriously difficult to trace.
None of us want our personal information exposed to criminals. Just as we don’t leave our doors wide open with no security setups, it’s high time we take a closer look at what security measures we should take to protect our cyber presence, and deploy the most comprehensive solution that can guard against all forms of cyber misdemeanors.
Guardforce has an effective measure available. Our one-stop cyber security solution, Guardforce Real-time Insured Defense (GRID), can help secure corporate and home networks and prevent cyber crimes at an affordable budget. Download GRID's brochure or visit https://www.guardforce.com.hk/en/security-technologies/cybersecurity to learn more.
