The Growth of Cybersecurity and Online Privacy Concerns

Over the recent few years, instances of high-profile data breaches and digital espionage have been on the rise. This has compelled organizations to take cybersecurity seriously and implement increasingly stringent security measures and data protection regulations.

The world cybersecurity market was valued at USD 139.77 in 2021 and this is projected to grow to USD 376.32 billion by 2029. With organizations collecting vast amounts of customers and users’ sensitive data, the onus is on the organizations to keep this data secure. Cyberattacks usually leads to substantial financial losses as well as the trust of their customers.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity refers to protecting or recovering computer systems, programs or networks from cyberattacks. Cyber attackers are increasingly employing AI and social engineering-powered methods to evade data security. To alleviate unauthorized access to customer data, newer technologies like intelligent cloud security solutions along with multi-factor authentication passwords should be implemented.

Importance of Cybersecurity

A more technologically-reliant society is now posting information on social media platforms that could easily lead to identity theft. Sensitive information like bank account or credit card details are also being saved on cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. When this is paired with poor cloud service security, a myriad of potential security vulnerabilities arises. All this emphasizes the growing importance of cybersecurity.

Growth in Cybercrimes

Increasing exposure of identity information on the web via cloud services is driving cybercrimes like identity theft. However, this isn’t the only target as cybercriminals also compromise data integrity in organizations and disrupt, destroy or seize control of industrial infrastructure. Cybercriminals are also getting more versatile. While social engineering with ransomware, spyware and phishing remains the easiest form of entry, third-party vendors who process your data are also more prone to cyberattacks, due to poor cybersecurity practices. This makes third-party risk management more significant.

Impact of Cybercrime

Meager focus on cybersecurity practices can damage in a variety of ways including economically, where the cost of repairing damaged systems could be substantially large. Theft of intellectual property or corporate information can also lead to loss of reputation, loss of customers and penalization by data breach laws and payment of regulatory fines or sanctions.

All businesses need to create a cybersecurity framework to reduce data breaches.