Top Five Biggest IT Security Risks For Businesses

Hacking has progressed immensely over the past few years. It has gone from a crime of opportunity typically conducted by one person to an open market of complex malware that is backed by money launderers and criminal groups. To ignore IT security risks is to take an unbelievable gamble. Nowadays, security breaches are one of the biggest threats to a business’s progression and even their existence. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at five of the biggest IT security risks for businesses.

1. Cyber Crime Groups – Nowadays businesses are dealing with cyber attacks from crime syndicates as opposed to the lone criminal mastermind, although these still exist. There are now organisations that are dedicated to cyber attacks. There will be one person that creates malware, another in charge of creating botnets and so on and so forth. It is likely that more national standards will emerge in order to try and combat this issue, with more pressure for compliance.

2. Smartphone Apps – The boom of mobile apps is one that cannot be ignored. They have taken off at a rapid pace and because of this there is currently a lack of security considerations surrounding the app industry. Most smartphones are not secure devices. This has made them one of the main targets for hackers and cyber criminals.

3. Vulnerable Service Providers – Virtually all businesses are now sharing data with third-party providers. They can be a key vulnerability in your supply chain. Cyber criminals are often exploiting the third party in order to indirectly target the business in question. Imagine if someone was to get in and change some of the data being used and collected by the service provider. It is vital to monitor and fully understand your supply chain’s integrity. You need to know how they are gathering data on your behalf. A strong relationship with all service providers is imperative.

4. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) – BYOD is a trend that is growing in popularity in workplaces all over the world and is fast becoming one of the greatest risks to a business, especially when employees have not undertaken relevant IT security training to help them understand those risks. Employees are accessing corporate software and data via their own laptops, tablets, smartphones etc. This is because it is cheaper and more flexible. As this trend grows, businesses are putting themselves at a greater risk of security breaches. These risks are both external and internal. External threats include manipulation of unreliable business applications and software vulnerabilities, which often requires employees with CEH Certification expertise to combat the weaknesses in the system. The main internal threat is mismanagement of the device itself.

5. Rogue Employees – A lot of employers are shocked to discover that their biggest information security threat lies closer to home. The British Standards Institution (BSI) conducted a poll at Infosecurity Europe 2014 and it concluded that 37 per cent of respondents believed rogue employees were the biggest threat to their information security. This ranked significantly higher than bring your own device (15 per cent) and cyber attacks (19 per cent). The reason why employees are such a big risk is because they cannot be controlled. Often, the guilty party does not put the company at risk because they are acting maliciously, they may simply not understand the risks that are associated with the actions they have taken. Thus, to lower the number of insider breaches effective IT security training is recommended.

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