Risk Management articles

A swift and adequate response to an active cybersecurity threat can mean the difference between your company surviving the incident or going under. Small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially at risk because they are looked upon as low-hanging fruit by hackers and they tend to have fewer defense and response mechanisms in place than larger corporations, especially because of budget constraints. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report for 2021, the average cost of a breach was […]

The year 2021 saw ransomware attacks rising by a jaw-dropping 92%. And 22 billion records were exposed across 4,145 publicly disclosed attacks. Considering that a breach will cost companies an average of $4.5 million, the need for cyber insurance has never been so high. But what is cyber insurance exactly, and is it right for your business and industry? In this article, we will try and answer the questions most frequently asked about cyber insurance. 1. What exactly is cyber […]

In September 2022, an 18-year-old hacker leveraged sophisticated social engineering techniques to smash into Uber’s network. Once inside, the hacker rummaged through a file share and found privileged credentials that gave access to enormous swathes of Uber’s source code and corporate cloud platforms. Luckily, no trip data was taken, according to Uber. But trusting luck is a terrible strategy for cybersecurity. How did the Uber hack happen? According to an official statement by Uber, the breach was carried out when […]

As organizations mature, they are exposed to ever-increasing internal and external risks. Internally, from the danger of executing projects with the same entrenched and unsecured processes. Externally, from the threat of cyberattacks that take advantage of any chink in the security armor. Few initiatives sit at the intersection of these concerns as the creation of a Security Operations Center (SOC). Building a SOC requires new tools and technology, diligent work with partners and vendors, as well as successful recruitment and […]

“A lock only keeps honest people out.” With the current cybersecurity threat landscape, SMEs need to secure their organization to lower their exposure to risk. While there are a lot of tools available that are designed to mitigate or prevent threats, employing the proper framework and approach that aligns with your cybersecurity goals will make the most difference in your planning efforts. Modern threats require modern approaches, and we can only prevent what we can anticipate. Because of this, it’s […]

Why oh why is cybersecurity so complex? I was at an event recently and the keynote speaker talked about how security is unique in its incredibly minimal consolidation. In the cloud, you have arguably three major players (Amazon, Microsoft, and Google). In mobile phones a few. In almost any area of life, consolidation happens (auto’s maybe 10, TV’s 3-4, etc). Yet, in information security, no one company has greater than 5% of the market. The equivalent of cyber security is […]

Software vulnerabilities are a fact of life with more identified every day. In 2021, 28,695 new vulnerabilities were discovered in production software. These vulnerabilities can potentially create a backdoor to companies, letting attackers come in and out as they please. However, some vulnerabilities are significantly more dangerous than others with widespread impact. Many of these high-impact vulnerabilities — such as Log4j and Follina — are zero-days, where vulnerabilities are exploited by cyber threat actors in the wild before they become […]

Risk management is a core part of any organization’s business processes. Without the ability to manage risk, an unforeseen event could put the company out of business. Effective and comprehensive risk management requires an understanding of what can go wrong, how to minimize the probability of a risk event occurring, and how to recover if something does go wrong. In many ways, managing risk for the business is similar to owning a car. Car ownership comes with significant risks and […]

SMEs have little wiggle room regarding cybersecurity. Smaller budgets and fewer dedicated security resources mean that cyberattack attempts are more likely to penetrate an SME’s defenses than those of a larger company.  Forty-three percent of all cyberattacks are aimed directly at small to medium businesses, and only 14% of SMEs are ready to defend against those attacks, according to a study by Accenture. Aside from being extremely inconvenient, these data breaches also get expensive. The cost of data breaches to […]

Risk management is an important part of the investors’ job. If a business they capitalize suffers significant losses due to various risks, the value of that business decreases, and the investors lose  money. Investors must consider a variety of different potential risks to organizations they are  considering as targets. Before committing funds, they’ll need to account for financial, compliance, reputational, and other risks to the business. However, in addition to the factors above, cyber risks have emerged as another major […]

Venture Capital (VC) and Private Equity (PE) firms take on a lot of risk when investing in a new startup or operating business. Although it is vital to perform all necessary due diligence on any new investment, VC/PE firms shouldn’t ignore their own risk. Rather, they need to take a hard look at their own cybersecurity posture. Hackers know that these companies may lead to significant payouts. After all, global venture investment in 2021 obliterated all previous records, hitting a […]

Yes, small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to prove a fruitful target for cybercriminals.  The Allianz Risk Barometer reported that cyber risks are the largest concern for companies globally in 2022. And the number of cyberattack attempts per week reached an all-time high in Q4 of 2021.  Many hacking attempts — such as spam containing malicious links — are general in scope, not discriminating against the company’s size or sector. But the hit rate for small and medium businesses is […]

When it comes to cybersecurity risk – it’s not just devices and networks that are susceptible to attacks. Employees are a prime target for threat actors. Research suggests that employees of small businesses will be hit with a 350% higher level of social engineering attacks than those who work in large businesses.  Companies with a minimal security posture in place are the most likely to be compromised. Because they may not have robust cybersecurity measures in place, they’re essentially leaving […]

If there’s one thing we can definitely say about the post-2020 era is that we’re all more open to “going digital.” This comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. We are more open to remote work, and have access to more opportunities than ever, but we’re also more likely to become victims of cybercrime too. Cyber insurance stats and cybersecurity research show that now, more than ever, businesses of all sizes are more inclined to pay more attention to online […]