Holistic approach to sustainable information security
Not only in large corporations, but also in small and medium-sized enterprises, digitalisation is leading to an ever-increasing networking of business and production processes. But this also increases the risk potential because complex networked infrastructures naturally offer more opportunities for cybercriminals to attack. This is why isolated security measures no longer do justice to today’s threats. Appropriate protection for business-critical information and systems requires an integrative strategic approach. This approach also considers data protection aspects, employee awareness and training, as well as all infrastructure elements – from IT and multifunctional systems in offices to IoT sensors in factory buildings and IP cameras on buildings.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly targeted by hacker attacks: In Germany alone, according to a Forsa survey, 30 percent of all SMEs fell victim to a successful cyberattack. Although German SMEs are above-average innovators in their respective fields of business, they often lack adequate IT system protection compared to larger companies. According to analysts, this is precisely what makes them a preferred target for attacks at present. On a global average, the financial damage per successful attack amounts to around two million euros – whereby, according to Accenture, the costs caused by cybercrime rose by 27 percent worldwide in 2017.
Hackers are thus getting to know and imitate the typical user behaviour in the attacked company better and better, so that nobody discovers their criminal activities in everyday business life. The longer this game of hide-and-seek goes on, for a financial services provider, for example, the more illegal money transfers the perpetrators can trigger and capture correspondingly higher sums. Europol’s current cybercrime report speaks of a business email compromise in this context and estimates the associated damage sum between 2013 and 2017 at around five billion dollars.
The Europol Report highlights the growing number of cybercrimes involving Ransomware as a further threat class that increasingly affects SMEs throughout Europe. This refers to malware that takes data and systems hostage: Ransomware either blocks system access so that programs can no longer be started or stored data is encrypted and thus rendered unusable. The perpetrators then demand a ransom for the release, usually in digital currency such as Bitcoin, to cover their tracks.
Urgent need for action: SMEs targeted by cybercriminals
According to Europol, major threats are posed in particular by the rapid spread of IoT devices, which are often inadequately protected. The infamous Mirai botnet is said to have hijacked more than 300,000 IoT components at times, including many IP cameras. This botnet can be used to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on web servers with enormous bandwidths of more than one terabit per second. Mirai is also believed to be responsible for the approximately two-hour complete outage of Internet access on the west coast of the United States in October 2016. Using DDoS, hackers can even manipulate or completely paralyse entire production facilities and, in the worst case, critical infrastructures such as the water or energy supply.
While most large companies have systematically developed their detection and defence capabilities against different cybercrime variants in recent years, the SME sector often lacks the resources to do so. According to a study conducted by Capgemini, around 68 percent of all companies worldwide are currently looking for IT security experts. Because there is hardly any know-how available on effective security measures, especially in small and medium-sized businesses, organised hacker gangs are increasingly targeting this company segment. Today, every company must be aware that it is highly likely that it will also be affected by a cyberattack in the future. And for medium-sized companies, a production shutdown lasting several days due to a DDoS attack or a ransomware extortion could mean drastic losses or even put the company out of business.