With the world shifting more and more towards digitalisation every day, there has been a growing demand for cybersecurity to prevent and deter any form of cyber-attacks from occurring. While the cybersecurity industry is critical to the infrastructure of many countries and companies, not many people realise its importance and how vital it is to keep us protected. If cybersecurity is new to you, here are some facts that might surprise you!

Cyberattacks are increasing exponentially

Just because you can’t see these hackers does not mean that you are not exposed to the threats these hackers pose. In fact, a study done by the University of Maryland uncovered how common cyberattacks were. The results of the study showed that globally, there was a cyberattack on computers with internet access every 39 seconds!
This only shows how easily hackers can gain access to our computers and how prone we can be to cyberattacks. People without secure passwords are more likely to be victims of such cyberattacks. So if your password is something generic that can be easily deciphered through trial and error, or if you have the same password for all your accounts online, you might want to consider changing it.

Human error leads to most cyberattacks

When analysing cyberattacks, a whopping 95% of cases are due to human errors. Hence, this goes to show that even companies with cybersecurity measures implemented can fall prey to the complex and ever-changing cyber threats from hackers.
One way to prevent potential human errors within the company is by ensuring that all employees have good knowledge of cyber literacy. In other words, employees should be encouraged to take up courses like the Certified Ethical Hacker course to broaden their understanding of cybersecurity or even the Agile training course that teaches a secure method of project management. Having such knowledge significantly decreases the chances for human errors and prevents your company from becoming a weak link for hackers to infiltrate. This is especially crucial if you are in a finance or government agency that handles sensitive information daily.
If you need more of an incentive to take up any of these courses, BridgingMinds is providing a promotion on our IT and cybersecurity courses between October and December. Some of these courses are also SSG-funded, meaning you can use your SkillsFuture credits to offset part of the fees!

Ransomware makes up a majority of cyberattacks

When looking into common cyberthreats, it’s not hard to notice the rapidly growing rate of ransomware attacks. A ransomware attack is essentially a type of malware that a hacker uses to encrypt the sensitive data of a company. The hackers then ask for a ransom to decrypt data and return access to the company.
The ransom could range between a few hundred dollars to even thousands of dollars, depending on how sensitive the encrypted information is. This is a rapidly growing cyberthreat because of how easy it is for the hackers to receive funds from the companies who are desperate to retrieve their sensitive data.

Conclusion

These facts should have opened your eyes to the various cyber threats you can be exposed to. Furthermore, it emphasises the importance of being ahead of such risks. So seize any opportunity you receive to get yourself cyber literate!