Cyberattacks. Ransomware. Data breaches.
These words are making the headlines more frequently. And don’t think it can’t happen to you. It can.
Cybersecurity threats, as well as higher ransom payments, are surging. A recent survey from McKinsey & Company found that cyberattacks cause trillions of dollars of damage every year.
Trillions.
Every year.
The advancement of digital transformation and usage is, unfortunately, also creating new opportunities for cybercriminals. And you don’t even have to be a professional hacker anymore. Apparently, ransomware-as-a-service is now a thing – a pay-for-service malware.
Alarming cyberattack risks – cause trillions of dollars in damage
Here are just a few of the alarming statistics and trends associated with cyberattack risks:
- Cybersecurity threats and higher ransom payments surging
- $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 (Source: McKinsey & Company)
- 300% increase over the previous decade
- 105% surge in ransomware cyberattacks in 2021 (Source: Fortune)
- Financial services a top 10 target for ransomware (Source: TechTarget)
- Data privacy and protection and liability
- Under the GDPR, the EU’s data protection authorities can impose fines of up to €20 million or 4% of worldwide turnover for the preceding financial year – whichever is higher.
- Brand trust and reputation risk
- Nearly 10% of respondents in a recent McKinsey survey severed ties with a supplier after learning about a data breach.
- Disinformation, fraud, and lack of safety are among intangible risks as identified by The Global Risks Report.
- Cybersecurity attacks and data breaches ranked 4th as one of the top business risks in the recent US Bank CFO Insights report.
- While all companies, large and small, are at risk, The Global Risks Report states that more attacks are targeting smaller and mid-size companies (SMBs).
- Many smaller companies don’t have the resources to employ a security team – the lack of cyber professionals hinders that as well.
- The good news is that the economies of scale (such as SaaS technology) can help address their needs for protection.
It’s clear that hackers are growing stronger every day, and data breaches and identity fraud continue to grow rampant. This weighs heavily on the minds of financial leaders, where their customers rely on them to protect their data and their money.
How technology mitigates risk from cyberattacks
With this incessant threat of cyberattacks, how can technology help mitigate the risk? Especially since cyber professionals can’t keep up with the attacks. Not to mention the lack of cyber professionals. The World Economic Forum, says there’s a shortfall of nearly 3 million cyber professionals worldwide.
Here are a few ways technology can protect you from cyberattacks.
- Go digital with automation.
- Move to the cloud and SaaS technology
- Stick with standards – build on a trusted solution like Solifi’s Open Finance Platform
- Adopt evergreen IT, which means your software is always current
- Harness data insights and identify risk proactively with APIs, real-time reporting, and datastreaming
- Deploy emerging technology like AI and machine learning
Embracing current technology helps you maintain full control of data that is supplied and stored in your system (protects data privacy). Additionally, technology provides you with timely data from multiple sources so you can approach risk proactively rather than reactively.
Recognizing the constant need to safeguard data for clients, Solifi puts controls in place to ensure we continuously meet System and Organization Controls (SOC) 1 and SOC 2 Type II guidelines – a validation from a third-party assessment.
SOC is trusted by the world’s largest banks and financial organizations, as well as startups. Solifi’s Open Finance Platform consistently meets SOC guidelines. This means we are delivering continuous assurance that your data – and your customer’s data – is always kept safe and secure.
Global partnership with AWS offers ready-build security to protect data
Our global partnership with AWS ensures our secure environments meet the highest standards for security, resilience, uptime, and global scalability. AWS features ready-built security services that are implemented at the click of a button. This allows you to leverage what AWS is already doing more quickly and affordably. AWS helps protect your data, accounts, and workloads from data breaches through cloud encryption.
Our clients take comfort in knowing that we’re very aware of cybersecurity threats and are vigilant in keeping their data secure with proven security measures such as AWS and regular third-party SOC audit validation assessments.
Outdated and legacy software leaves systems and data especially vulnerable to cyberattacks. Modernizing your software puts you in a more secure position to mitigate risk while optimizing your workflows, save time and money, enhance the customer experience, and grow your business.
See also our blog series: Top 5 ways to futureproof your business with technology
How to manage risk with SaaS technology
Read part 1: Managing risk: The best strategies use SaaS technology
Read part 2: Managing risk: Navigating economic turbulence with SaaS
Read part 3: Managing risk: The best tech to mitigate business disruption
Read part 4: Managing risk: How to use tech to mitigate non-compliance
Read part 5: Managing risk: Protect from cybersecurity threats with SaaS
Read part 6: Managing risk: Using tech to fix the labor shortages