Cyber crime is a fairly abstract concept for most people. We read about it in the news when it affects a large company or major government office. We hear about it here and there, maybe you know someone who has fallen victim or perhaps you have been a victim of cyber crime yourself at some point. Part of why it is so insidious is that we can not intuitively contextualize the risk it poses to us. If the place next door to you is the victim of a break in, you know what that implies for your own risk.
Here’s the correct but un-intuitive context: All cyber crime is crime happening next door.
How bad is it? Cyber crimes reported to the FBI nearly tripled between 2017 and 2021. Global losses to cyber criminals in 2021 is reported to be nearly $7 trillion. That’s pretty bad. The reality though is even worse. The US Department of Justice estimates that only 1 in 7 cyber crimes get reported and Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency reports that 47% of adults in the US have had their personal information exposed.
If this was any sort of traditional crime, we would all recognize it as a massive crime wave. Just as you wouldn’t leave the front door unlocked in the midst of a crime wave, it is imperative to take steps to protect yourself and your assets from cyber criminals. Global companies and national governments are aware of this and are investing heavily in making themselves resilient to cyber attacks.
The good news for individuals and small businesses is that they, too, can do a lot to protect themselves from cyber criminals. The first step is understanding that they need to. Small businesses account for 43% of all cyber crime annually. In the first half of 2022, over 53 million US citizens were effected by cyber crime. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that because you’re not a big target you don’t have to worry about it, but cyber criminals know that small targets are also the soft targets. Because of the scalability of the internet, it can be argued that it’s easier to rob many small but poorly protected entities than one large one
As a matter of security posture, more good news is that individuals and small businesses have an advantage here. While the mindset that you’re not a target is faulty, the notion that you’re unlikely to be targeted by a particularly elaborate and sophisticated cyber attack is correct. Cyber criminals take advantage of the lack of basic cybersecurity planning and protection but putting these into place is both effective and economic.
We’re here to help! Weles Technology offers a number of resources for individuals and small businesses to help you achieve cyber resilience.
- Cybersecurity training
- Network hardening
- Incident Response
- Recovery Planning
- Data Protection Standards Compliance
- and more!
We’ll build you a cybersecurity roadmap, connect you with both federal and private sector resources and and walk you through every step of the way with a plan tailored to your specific security posture needs.
Initial consultation is always free so give us a call today and learn what we can do for your cybersecurity posture.
