There isn’t an organization out there that isn’t at risk of systems hacking, data breaches, ransomware, or malware attacks from cybercriminals aiming to access the processing power of a network unlawfully. From this, cyber security in business has become essential. There are many threats that the businesses and industries featured here need to prepare for and ensure protection. Here are the main industries that require extra tight cyber security.
Financial industry
The financial industry is a primary target of cyber attacks for obvious reasons. Companies in this sector deal with what cyber attackers want: personal information and money. Forex trading has increased security through the years as a huge volume of data is transferred daily. Studies have found that over three-quarters of financial institutions felt confident in the application they had in place regarding cybersecurity. This being said, the facts are that one in three of these businesses are successfully breached, with an average of 85 attempts each year.
The FDIC requires penetration testing for businesses to fall under financial institution compliance. Banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions must ensure the confidentiality and security of all customer information, ensure consumer and customer information is disposed of correctly, and controls are put in place to prevent any unlawful information access.
Government & military
Government and military organizations rarely have attacks, but when they do, they are high-profile. This sector has many targets, such as cybercriminals searching to create revenue from abundant personal information in federal, local, and state databases, foreign powers trying to spy on or negatively impact a global competitor, or hacktivists trying to make a political statement.
In September 2018, the US Department of Defense revealed its cyber security strategies addressing the need to ensure the US military can win wars and fight, even in cyberspace.
Healthcare & medical
The information within the medical and healthcare system is high in volume and extremely sensitive, meaning cyber security for information storage is essential. Medical and healthcare organizations store and access thousands, if not millions, of healthcare records that contain extensive amounts of personal and financial information. There have been examples of attacks, such as the devastating actions taken against Britain’s NHS (National Health Service), that negatively impacted patient care.
An industry like this features strict compliance standards to detect any potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited. Although healthcare entities must secure their networks and systems, HIPAA compliance and protecting electronically protected health information (ePHI) are essential.
Energy & utility
Both the utility and energy sectors face considerable concerns regarding cyber security. Many compliance laws are in place ensuring high regulation, but there is still serious potential for cyberterrorism and hacktivism. A motivated hacker can cause widespread power outages and threaten millions of citizens’ health and safety by causing power outages in locations where they usually have equipment separated by miles of empty space.
The energy grid and utilities literally power our economy and everyday lives. This area is a known priority of national security. Still, it is also at risk of infections from malware to the vast amount of mobile connections, a reason why mobile, network, and web security is so critical. This being said backup restoration services are an essential process.
Education
There are many reasons why educational facilities and institutions are targeted. This industry holds a lot of valuable intellectual property from the research that has been made on campus, computer process power, and personal student/teacher/employee information. A high turnover in the staff at higher education institutions can result in inadequate password security and a heightened vulnerability to social engineering.
Education was the hardest-hit industry between 2005 and 2015, with over 500 breaches involving nearly 13 million records. In later reports, the number of stolen, compromised, or lost data records increased within the education sector by 164% in the first half of the year after 2016.
Business
The business industry is a broad spectrum of smaller niches making it no surprise that there are many potential threats. Companies within the retail and e-commerce sector are threatened by access to omnichannel and supply networking that hold considerable financial and personal data. It is not only larger businesses that are at risk; so are small businesses. While large enterprises usually have an entire infrastructure to combat cyber attacks, smaller-sized companies could find the resources that offer digital protection, an expensive area of their business resulting in the negligence of prioritization. It was reported in April 2017 that close to 14 million small businesses had fallen victim to hackers over the 12 months prior.
Final thoughts
Overall there isn’t really a particular industry that can overlook the security they impose through their organization. It should also be remembered that no matter how hard you try, there is always a potential threat that comes from cyber criminals learning and adapting new ways to make breaches. With the rise of modern technology, more and more precautionary methods can be implemented to help protect sensitive data within these industries, helping many people from criminals across the world.
