It feels like cybersecurity is dominating the newsfeeds, doesn’t it? There is a reason. Cyberattacks and cybercrime have risen dramatically in the last five years. 2020 broke all records in terms of data loss and the number of cyberattacks. Between 2019 and 2020 ransomware attacks alone rose by 62%, the same year that the World Economic Forum identified cyberattacks and data theft as two of the biggest risks to the global economy.

Cyber Monday and the holiday shopping season are around the corner: don’t be the victim of an online shopping scam or cyber security breach. Cyber Monday is here, and the holiday shopping season is in full swing. With some of the world’s biggest brands vulnerable to a Magecart attack, you can’t be too careful with your credit card information.

This week, the popular web host GoDaddy reported that it experienced a serious data breach impacting 1.2 million customers. Is your organization at risk, and what should you do? Here’s what you need to know.

November and December can be particularly stressful for retail organizations—and not just because of the holiday madness. As the volume of transactions ramps up during the holiday season, IT teams must be on high alert for threats buried in a sea of routine activity. But given the exponential growth of ecommerce, they also need to stave off cyber threats.

The first nine months of 2020 saw 2,953 publicly reported breaches — 51 percent more than the same period in 2019; by the end of 2020, another 1,000 breaches pushed the total to 3,950. On average, security professionals took 228 days to identify a security breach and 80 days to contain it.

The possibility of a data breach at your organization can be anxiety-inducing. According to the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach is $3.61 million, and it’s on the rise; the average data breach cost is up 10% over last year and remote work is a contributing factor: Ponemon found that breaches caused by remote work were $1.07 million more expensive than those that weren’t. This may have your organization wondering if you’re protecting your data in every way you can.

Alan is one of the senior officers of a financial bank in Texas. Alan was looking to buy a Halloween costume and got an email about a sale happening at a store near his neighborhood. He clicked on the email to learn more about the offer. In a few hours, his computer, which had critical high-profile customer files and details got infected by ransomware.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the massive increase in using cloud computing services. As the world progresses through its online evolution, cloud computing services have become more of a necessity. However, along with businesses, cybercriminals have also seen this virtualization as a means of snagging more prey. The rapid increase in cloud computing services has made organizations face novel security challenges.

The trend of global data breach events is steep and still continuing to tilt upwards. According to the latest data breach investigation report by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, data breach costs in 2021 have reached a record high. Last year, the average cost was US$3.83 million, and this year it has peaked at US$4.24 million. Mitigating these events involves comprehensive management of the entire attack surface, including the third, and even fourth-party vendor network.