New breaches are occurring every day. Figures from NTT Security show attackers are focusing on the top three industries globally. Finance (50% increase attack volume targeting), manufacturing (nearly 300% increase in attack volume targeting), and healthcare (more than 200% increase in attack volume targeting) have become the most targeted industries by threat actors. Although these are the most targeted industries, all industries must implement effective cybersecurity risk prevention.   

CISOs globally recognize the need for improved security services but are not always sure how to best determine the right mix of solutions to maintain the ideal cybersecurity risk posture. 

One of the main challenges is privacy. Privacy should be viewed as a cousin to security and as such, it needs to be built into your organisational culture. Companies should be using security and privacy together, as their best practice. Not only to follow regulations, but to better secure customer data by going above and beyond. We should be continually educating all employees about the importance of putting privacy first, as this will be a major measure to any cybersecurity risk prevention.   

Additionally, we need to start educating all employees to work together to prevent breaches, not just those that work in IT or Security. Security is now an enterprise-wide issue. No matter your position, we need to change mindsets and establish regular training to make sure that all staff realise security is not a separate issue but is now a fundamental part of all our jobs whether we’re in HR or IT.   

Looming questions exist as new cyber-attacks become faster and more aggressive. The attacks and breaches are now so substantial and with such real-world impact, that few now doubt the risk. Leaders should be using this to their advantage and ride this wave of awareness when it comes to cybersecurity risk prevention. Leaders should use this awareness to make improvements where previously there would have been cultural resistance.   

Implementing effective cybersecurity risk prevention has its challenges, especially around the diversity of tools in play. Businesses are trying to cut through all the options to find one to help create an architecture that standardizes the use of the same tool. Some businesses are moving to ‘active prevention’ with AI and ML to act as a ‘force multiplier’.  This can allow businesses to focus on the important events that really need attention. While AI and ML can be used to sort through the haystacks for the needles, meaning that Security and IT teams are then empowered to deal with more pertinent issues.  

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