As the capabilities of technology increase so do the threats to its integrity. The incidence of cybercrime has been rising exponentially over the past number of years, proliferated by those with the technical know-how and access to computers. Chris Wen, Asus Kenya’s product country manager, explains how the cloud can protect organisations.
Organisations world over have made major improvements in the digital space. There is more digitisation of personal data and systems. Economically, it is fair to say that there have been gains. But against this backdrop of cost effective technological adoptions lies growing cases of cyberattacks from determined and relentless cybercriminals.
Previous threats such as viruses have been replaced by sophisticated attacks that can cripple the entire organisation’s IT system. According to a report on cyberattacks released by an antivirus and security firm this month, there has been an increase of 14 per cent in the total global threats between 2012 and 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, Kenya ranked 115th on the list of countries prone to web-based threats.
Granted, cyberattacks aren’t discriminative of the size of the organisation, but research points to small businesses being the most affected. Targeted attacks in companies with fewer than 250 employees are growing. Statistically this translates to 31 per cent of all attacks, a threefold increase from 2011.
Security experts have predicted that in this current year of 2014, cybercriminals will dedicate more time to finding new and medium sized businesses as a result of them having poor security protocols. It is therefore crucial for organisations to ensure that they have a robust strategic policy and data protection in the workplace.
Response
One key attribute for this policy is that organisations need to adopt a top down approach where top management to bottom staff work with the IT personnel. This will mean that applicable training for every staff on cybercrime knowledge. As reported, there is a shortage of more than one million security professionals across the globe in 2014. A proactive approach in imparting basic knowledge to all employees would go a long way in addressing this problem.
Another important feature of this strategic policy should be the inclusion of cloud web storage. Questions abound about whether cloud storage can be a solution to cybercrime. Indeed, by limiting solid state access points, there is a mathematical probability that the security web is stronger. With larger web networks such as Asus’s cloud web storage, organisations are assured of strong architecture that reduces the threat posed by hackers.
The strategic policy should in essence be the main focus in tackling cybercrime as a result of its investment in staff aside from its assured channel of cloud storage.
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