What is Cybersecurity

Computers and the Internet have become commonplace in current day society. Every day these systems store, manipulate and exchange business and personal information.

Cyber security is the steps taken to protect this information by preventing, detecting and responding to attempts to vandalize, steal or corrupt data.

Organizations need to address cyber security for several reasons. Individuals and employees who have provided personal information to an organization have the expectation that it will be respected and appropriately protected. Organizational data also needs to be protected.

Why is cyber security important?

The global cyber threat continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with a rising number of data breaches each year. A report by RiskBased Security revealed that a shocking 7.9 billion records have been exposed by data breaches in the first nine months of 2019 alone. This figure is more than double (112%) the number of records exposed in the same period in 2018.

Medical services, retailers and public entities experienced the most breaches, with malicious criminals responsible for most incidents. Some of these sectors are more appealing to cybercriminals because they collect financial and medical data, but all businesses that use networks can be targeted for customer data, corporate espionage, or customer attacks.

With the scale of the cyber threat set to continue to rise, global spending on cybersecurity solutions is naturally increasing. About $188.3 billion data and system bridges was recorded in 2023, with prediction to surpass $260 billion globally by 2026. Governments across the globe have responded to the rising cyber threat with guidance to help organizations implement effective cyber-security practices.

In the U.S., the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a cyber-security framework. To combat the proliferation of malicious code and aid in early detection, the framework recommends continuous, real-time monitoring of all electronic resources.