Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Provide? Portal and more
Cloud Direct
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Did you know that the average cost of a cybersecurity breach in the UK is ￡3.46 million?
Well, now you do.
That's up from ￡3.2 million in 2023, and puts the UK seventh internationally – firms in the US and the Middle East are facing bills of ￡7.15 million and ￡6.69 million respectively.
Why am I throwing all of these numbers at you? Well, it's Cybersecurity Awareness Month and I'm using this Memo to make you very much aware of the importance of cybersecurity! Along with a few other things...
?? The top 5 stats from IBM's newest cybersecurity report
?? What's coming up with our brand-new Security Lab series
?? Everything you need to know about innovating securely in the age of AI
?? Updates to our customer Provide Portal
Ready? Let's get stuck in.
Cybersecurity insight from IBM ??
As I get ready to hunker down for winter, I've been gathering all the reading material I can get my paws on to see me through those long, dark nights. What's grabbed my interest this week, in light of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, is IBM's new Cost of a Data Breach report for 2024, which provided me with the statistics in the intro of this memo.
But there was so much more insight to be taken from that report that I couldn't just leave it there, so I've pulled together five other interesting or alarming – in some instances, both – stats for you to consider throughout this month, and heading in 2025.
1. Healthcare is the most vulnerable industry
Breaches in healthcare cost more than twice the UK average. It's followed by the financial industry in second place, with the industrial, technology, and energy sectors filling out the top five.
2. It takes a long time to identify a breach
194 days, on average. That's fallen from 204 days in 2023, and a high of 212 days in 2021, but it's still taking a worryingly long time to become aware of a breach. It then takes an average of 64 days to contain the breach – down from 75 in 2021.
3. Breached businesses are losing more revenue
The cost of a cybersecurity breach is split roughly into three sections – lost revenue, detection and escalation, and post-event response. The average split is relatively even between the three, but the average lost revenue has risen from ￡990,000 to ￡1.15 million in the past year.
4. Intellectual property is at risk
While customers' personal identifiable information is still the most targeted information (stolen in 48% of attacks), hackers are now increasingly interested in your intellectual property, which is targeted in 43% of attacks. Employee personal identifiable information is still heavily sought after, however, and is taken in 37% of attacks.
5. Non-optimised cloud environments to blame
While phishing attacks and stolen credentials are still the two foremost entry points for hackers, poorly constructed and non-optimised cloud environments are now the third biggest cause of cyberattacks. In 2024, 12% of cyberattacks have been as a result of cloud misconfiguration.
?? Interested? There's loads more to find out about in the full report from IBM – it's well worth a read.
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Sitting down with the experts ??
Did you see our LinkedIn Live last week? If not then don't worry, you're able to go back and watch what was a fascinating discussion between our very own Leon Godwin , and Microsoft's Aileen F. , on our LinkedIn feed.
They took a deep dive into the world of XDR and what it can do to protect your organisation, and enable to you to continue innovating and succeeding in an increasingly complex threat landscape... and that's just the beginning!
This was the first episode of our brand-new Security Lab series, which will be live on our LinkedIn each and every month. In each episode, Leon will sit down with an expert from Microsoft to discuss a particular element of the security landscape, giving you insight from and access to the most knowledgeable people on the subject.
Next up, we're navigating the complexities of data governance with Microsoft Purview alongside Karim Fayad , so get signed up to be sure you don't miss out!
Your guide to innovating securely ??
With all this doom and gloom, you might be thinking the best course of action is to batten down the hatches, avoid new technologies, and stick with the status quo. To that, I'd say stop being silly.
As soon as you stop moving forward, your competitors will start closing in on you and, before you know it, they'll leave you in the dust. Your business needs to be agile, explore new technologies, and continue innovating to ensure its ongoing success... but how?
Well, we've got you covered. Earlier this year I tasked the team with creating a guide to innovating securely in the age of AI, which outlines how you can maintain your security standing while still exploring new technological horizons. From AI and data analytics to DevOps and Azure optimisation, this guide covers everything you need to know to keep your business moving forward.
To quote Rocky... that's how winning is done!
Creating a greener future with Provide? ??
Lastly, our development team have been working on something very special to help you, as well as ourselves, monitor our impact on the world around us – all inside our very own Provide? Portal.
In the next couple of weeks, we'll be releasing our brand-new Sustainability module, which will give our customers insight on their cloud environment's Co2 emissions, environmental impact and more, helping them to become greener businesses that are working to protect the world we live in.
We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to monitor the impacts they're having – both good and bad! – so they know where their efforts and best spent, and the changes they need to make. If you're an existing Provide? Portal user, keep an eye on your inbox and you'll be the first to know as soon as the new module is launched.
Phew, that was a stat-heavy Memo, wasn't it? Time for a cuppa I think, then I'm back to finding somewhere warm for the winter.
I'll let you know where I end up next time!
All the best,
Eric ??