Cyber security is a hot topic in the business world at the moment. As technology becomes increasingly important to companies’ success, so does the need to protect their systems from both external and internal threats.
Indeed, a new study by leading anti-virus company Kaspersky Lab has revealed 91 per cent of businesses have experienced a cyber-attack from an outside source in the past year, while 85 per cent have been threatened from within their own organisation.
However, despite these figures demonstrating the huge risks posed by cybercrime, there is a common consensus that most businesses are not spending enough on their defences.
In a survey of global IT decision makers, Kaspersky found 60 per cent think too little money and time is devoted to cyber security. As a result, only half of these respondents believe their company is well equipped to deal with threats when they occur.
The situation is worse in the education industry, where just 28 per cent of organisations are confident in their IT security programmes. Shockingly, only 34 per cent of theq government and defence organisations included in the survey said they have the necessary resources to develop their defences properly, which means highly sensitive information could be at risk of being stolen.
David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, commented: “Lots of organisations don’t realise these risks. A quarter of companies still regard security issues as things that happen to others – although more and more are starting to realise they are a real life problem for any business.”
He added that 28 per cent of businesses still don’t appreciate just how costly a cyber attack can be in terms of both finances and reputation. Courses relating to Database training and programming is very important, as employees with these skill set are more valuable than ever.
With data security such a prominent issue, it is only a matter of time before more companies look to hire IT professionals with experience in the sector. Visit Computeach if you would like to find out how you can add to your skill and get your career started in the industry.