Halt the cyber criminals gateway to data, the user.

Cybercriminals generally target two key areas: the individual and the computer. This provides access to the data they want to steal, alter, remove or use for illegal purposes. According to a well-known study by Clark School, hackers attempt to do this to internet-connected computers every 39 seconds on average, or 2,444 times a day.

Businesses know they have to take data security seriously and implement product, solution suites and frameworks to mitigate the possible damage from cyber attacks. Thousands of security product vendors and service providers believe that they have the answer to stopping cyber criminals, with the cybersecurity industry set to be worth $248 billion by 2023.

But despite all their efforts, things are not going according to plan.

The World Economic Forum, for example, produced a Top Ten Global Risk List in their yearly Global Risk Report. Cyber attacks featured at number five for likelihood and at number seven for impact; data fraud was number four for likelihood. This reflects the fact that each year millions, if not billions, of user’s data is compromised or stolen, as cyber attacks on both public and private institutions and businesses continue to rise.

With global cybercrime predicted to cost up to $6 trillion annually by 2021, every user or business is paying the cost – either directly or indirectly. In 2019 alone, ransomware cost businesses $11.5 billion and business e-mail compromise scams accounted for over $12 billion in losses. Most cybercrime is now targeting the mobile device, with over 60% of online fraud accomplished through mobile platforms. Additionally, 80% of mobile fraud is carried out through mobile apps.

Why is this happening? The World Economic Forum says it “reflects how new instabilities are being caused by the deepening integration of digital technologies into every aspect of life”.

The gateway to data, and the target of most of these attacks, is the user. 90% of data breaches come from phishing attacks, for example. Cybersecurity solutions spend most of their time and efforts detecting, isolating and mitigating the damage from malware and adversaries that have already gained access to the computing platform.

SynergySix Opinion

At SynergySix we believe that more attention should be placed on preventing malware and cybercriminals from gaining access to the platform. To do this more attention should be focused on the biggest vulnerability – the user. This is what we call User Isolation Protection (UIP). We argue that by refocusing on the user, organisations can shift from mopping up breaches and firefighting to proactively preventing future incidents that critically damage data, systems and businesses. To do this they need to securely isolate the user, without compromising the user’s capability to engage.

To find out more download a free copy of our SynergySix report  covering  User Isolation Protection.

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