Financial Services
Take a Holistic Approach and Remain Vigilant About Cybersecurity Awareness 365 Days a Year . . . Not Just 31
As you’re probably aware, October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). With all of the cybersecurity awareness being generated this month, that got us thinking. The posture toward ongoing vigilance against cyber attacks every day of the year—instead of only 31—should be the norm.
Going Well Beyond Traditional Security Measures
The good news is that by being proactive against cyber threats day in and day out, you won’t let your guard down for one minute. Common sense security measures abound, such as using strong passwords, not using the same passwords, two-factor authentication and not using public Wi-Fi.
And while these measures are important, there are much more robust, proactive and holistic cybersecurity measures that will help you avoid becoming compromised.
For example, it’s critical to analyze where the risks are in your business, like:
- Where can you risk losing data?
- What data is important to you? (e.g., personal banking information)
- Where does the risky data reside?
Then, you can work out which systems you need to protect that data in the event of a cyber attack. For example, we employ thousands of sensors that are constantly monitoring cybersecurity threats for our clients around the world 24x7x365.
The Numbers Simply Don’t Lie
Just to provide you an idea of what we’ve been up to since January 1 of this year, consider the following 2018 cybersecurity statistics from Thrive (all figures year-to-date, as of 10/19/18):
| Disrupted Inbound Connections Across
Thrive Technology Group’s Global Presence |
251,648 blocked attempts to access publicly facing services in a malicious way |
| Website Filtering Over the Entire
Thrive Technology Group UK Client Base |
9 million of 640 million total website requests blocked as potentially dangerous along
with 24,000 malware blocks |
| Mimecast Rejected Mail
(Thrive Technology Group UK office only) |
31,141 of 255,000 emails rejected
as malicious or spam (12% of total volume) |
As you can see, these numbers are staggering, and the year’s still not over yet.
When it comes to cybersecurity, we understand that you may have highly valid and specific concerns about next-gen antivirus measures or data loss prevention (DLP). However, your initial priority from a holistic standpoint should be to identify the most critical cyber risk that you’re trying to mitigate.
Determine what your problem and concerns are and then move forward to find the right cyber security solution, whether it ends up being a technology, procedure or control. You may even already have the solution in place, but you just don’t know it yet.
In the meantime, numerous websites cover cybersecurity in detail. Two of our favorites that provide excellent additional sources of information and advice are:
Next Steps with Thrive?
What does cyber security awareness with Thrive look like? First, we’ll work together on a cybersecurity audit that goes beyond cybersecurity, but also covers the type of processing you use and your volume of data. We’ll then present our findings in a detailed report that points out your vulnerabilities. Be prepared though because what we’re liable to find can be quite revealing.
To learn more about obtaining a cybersecurity audit for your firm, please contact us to set up an appointment today.
And by the way, be sure to make cybersecurity awareness a 365-days-a-year commitment. The nefarious people behind today’s cyber threats never rest, and neither should you.