In Nigeria, cyber crime is getting messier as 60% of firms suffer cyber-attacks. Shockingly, only 38% of global organizations claim they have the infrastructure to handle a sophisticated cyber-attack. Meanwhile, 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses, but only 14% of these SMEs have effective infrastructure to mitigate cyber risks, vulnerabilities and attacks.
According to the Country Manager of Sophos (Nigeria), Mr. Jimi Falaiye, businesses are often concerned about security of data; unfortunately, 95% of security breaches are due to human error.
“Cyber-criminals and hackers will infiltrate your company through your weakest link, which is almost never in the IT department”; he said, adding that it takes organizations an average of 191 days to identify data breaches.
According to Jimi, 92.4% of malware is delivered via email, even as total cost for cybercrime committed globally added up to over $1 trillion dollars in 2018.
Sharing more facts about cyber crimes, particularly as ransomware affects Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), the Market Intelligence and Research Analyst at Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, Nathanael Odofin, said that 22% of organisations had to cease business operations immediately because of ransomware.
“Reports reveal that 81% businesses have experienced ransomware; 66% have suffered a data breach; 35% were victims of ransomware. He however said that anti-virus is not enough because most of them are reactive in nature.
“But, most antivirus programs are reactive. A study has found that a typical antivirus will only stop 30-50% of new malware when it first appears. Unless the antivirus software has seen a particular threat in the past, it won’t necessarily protect your computer.
Referring to Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, he reminded businesses in Nigeria that over half of all cyber breaches in 2017 included the use of malware. Malware activities include: stealing credit card details; revealing passwords and spreading spam.
“It is why the fortification of antivirus merely is not enough. You need to bolster this layer of defense with another layer (like an onion) – that of an antimalware.
Participants and other organisations in Nigeria are advised to deploy software security solutions, which Sophos has developed to “keep a very close eye on what is happening inside your system, blocking both known and unknown malware threats. It also safeguards you against any potentially harmful programs”.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Sidmach Technologies, Mr. Peter Arogundade, said that Lunch and Learn eventwas aimed at assisting IT experts in different organisations to understand cost effective security dynamics, and tools that mitigate latest threats, while receiving insights to have complete visibility and control of their IT Infrastructure.
The MD, who spoke through the Head of Marketing, at Sidmach, Olanrewaju Adelanwa, described the sessions as crucial as they offered the experts new perspective on better architectures for end-to-end networks threats management with a one-stop-solution that Sophos brings.
Credit: techeconomy.ng