Numerous recent studies show that the likelihood of a data breach for any company is very high. So at Xari Group, our default position is that your company will experience one, whether it’s an employee mistake or an intentional attack by an external party.
It is important to protect your business from data breaches and cyber-attacks. But most business owners, especially SMBs aren’t quite sure how and where to start. Cyberattacks put your money, data and IT equipment at risk. If a hacker gains access to your network, they could do a lot of damage with what they find, such as:
- Access to clients lists
- Customer credit card information
- Your company’s banking details
- Your pricing structure
- Product designs
- Expansion plans
- Manufacturing processes
- Internal correspondences
For the first half of 2019 alone, a total of 460 data breaches have been reported to the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner). The top three main reasons cited for data breaches during this period were: malicious or criminal attacks (62%), human error (34%) and system failures (4%). Most notified breaches were the direct result of cyber incidents, including phishing, malware, ransomware, brute-force attacks, compromised or stolen credentials, and hacking. This was followed by theft or paperwork or data storage devise and breaches caused by rogue employees and insider threats.
For this same period, the top sector to report data breaches under the NDB scheme was the private health sector (19%). The second largest source of data breaches was the finance sector (17%). This was followed by the legal, accounting and management services sector (10%), the private education sector (9%), and the retail sector (6%).
Cyber Crime is on the Rise
A recent study showed that almost half of cyber-attacks globally target small businesses. And only 14% of small businesses rate their ability to mitigate cyber risks, vulnerabilities, and attacks as highly effective. Smaller companies are attractive targets because they tend to have weaker online security. They’re also doing more business than ever online via cloud services that don’t use strong encryption technology. To a hacker, that translates into tons of sensitive data behind a door with an easy lock to pick. Statistics show that 85% of businesses with less than 1000 employees have been hacked, and most don’t even know.
The costs are staggering
Global cost of data breaches have been estimated to reach AU$7.5 Trillion by 2024. Locally, 59% of Australian organizations have their businesses interrupted by a cyber breach every month. And 60% of small companies go out of business within six months of a cyber attack.
We can help you
At Xari Group, security is our priority and core competence. This is on top of years of experience and expertise as a professional managed services provider, having worked with clients of different sizes from various industries and partnering with only the best suppliers and vendors globally. Xari Group’s security solutions were designed in strict compliance with the ASD’s Essential Eight Maturity Model and the NIST Cybersecurity and GDPR frameworks. Because when you’re thinking about security, you only want to do business with professionals you can trust.
