In a rapidly changing world, cybersecurity threats are becoming more sophisticated than ever. How can you keep your company safe in the face of these ever-evolving risks?
What’s changed?
In days past, scams were easier to avoid—egregious misspellings or an unfamiliar email address were obvious red flags. Today, however, there are more sophisticated threats to look out for:
- Deepfake technology involves audio or video impersonation—for example, a Hong Kong bank lost $35 million in 2020 to hackers using the AI-generated voice of a company director. Deepfakes are the second most common cybersecurity breach.
- Spear-phishing emails similarly impersonate trusted figures to request personal information. Unlike regular phishing emails, which cast a broad net, spear-phishing emails target specific individuals and are thus harder to spot.
- Generative AI can mass-produce emails in various languages. Email phishing has increased significantly with the development of generative AI technology, with 31,000 average threats per day in 2023—an increase of 1265% since 2022.
Overall, threats are becoming more elaborate and harder to identify.
What can you do?
With technology continuing to shift, here are a few ways to stay ahead:
- Regular training helps your employees stay up to date on the latest threats—one 2023 study claims that cybersecurity risk can be reduced from 60% to as low as 10% with a strong training program.
- Security best practices include updating software regularly, as well as using strong, unique passwords to reduce risk—according to a 2024 report, over 80% of breaches related to hacking made use of weak or stolen passwords.
- Company policies can not only help avoid threats, but ensure a smoother response if one occurs. The average cost of a data breach in 2024 was 4.88 million dollars, 10% higher than 2023. 75% of that increase was due to lost business and post-breach response activities, which could both be mitigated by proper planning.
Start with these best practices and stay on top of your company’s security today.
To find cybersecurity courses for your company, check out the list of available courses through the BlueVolt Course Library.
Sources: Deepfakes: What They Are & How Your Business Is at Risk (bofa.com), Deepfakes Rank as the Second Most Common Cybersecurity Incident for US Businesses (darkreading.com), Deepfake technology used in $35 million Hong Kong bank heist