Security expert, Dr Kraemer uncovers the financial impact of cybercrime
Month: June 2023
Publish Date
09/06/2023
Categories
Blogs Hot Topic
Cobweb’s recent webinar, exclusively held in collaboration with KnowBe4, the leading and most advanced platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing, provided us with a significant wake-up call. During the webinar, Dr. Martin Kraemer, the company’s security awareness advisor, shared alarming insights, stating that within a short span of two years, the financial impact of cybercrime is expected to reach an astonishing number of trillions of dollars, specifically estimated at US $10.5 trillion. What’s even more concerning is that human behaviour will be the primary cause, accounting for over 70% of these cybercrimes.
That’s worrying for sure, but it also means we can all do something about it if we act responsibly and act now!
Dr. Kraemer identified the Top 10 threats to businesses in the Middle East this year as:
- Phishing and Smishing
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Business Email Compromise
- Insider Threats
- Unintentional Disclosure
- Storage Reconnaissance
- Zero-Day Attack
- Social Engineering
- Data Exfiltration
What’s even more alarming is the notion that, as if the complexity of the cybercrime landscape isn’t daunting enough, it is set to worsen with the emergence of generative AI. This development is expected to provide attackers with easier access to sophisticated code, enabling them to localize mass phishing emails in various languages, making them increasingly believable. Additionally, the quality of business email compromise and CEO fraud is likely to escalate as AI can flawlessly imitate writing styles.
Dr. Kraemer emphasizes that defending your business against industrial-scale cybercrime entails more than just investing in technology. It requires empowering employees to make better security decisions daily. This means that we all need to develop competence in cyber awareness and manage behaviours to ensure that our people become our strongest defence assets instead of our weakest links. Furthermore, he cautions that security awareness and secure behaviour are not synonymous, which is why traditional awareness programs are no longer sufficient.
According to Dr. Kraemer, establishing a successful cybersecurity culture necessitates an A, B, C approach: Awareness, Behaviour, and Culture. This approach involves the following key elements:
- Increasing Awareness:
- Educating employees about the potential risks and consequences associated with certain actions that may lead to negative outcomes. For instance, cautioning against opening email attachments from unknown sources.
- Encouraging positive behaviour:
- Instilling in employees the understanding and concern for implementing security-enhancing processes. This includes promoting the adoption of practices such as creating strong passwords.
- Empowering employees as guardians:
- Equipping employees with the skills to identify and respond to cybersecurity incidents. This involves providing guidance on appropriate actions to take if an unauthorized USB drive is connected to a machine, for example.
- By implementing this A, B, C approach, organizations can foster a cybersecurity culture that proactively addresses risky behaviour, encourages safer practices, and empowers employees to act as vigilant sentinels against potential threats. In an exciting development, Cobweb has joined forces with KnowBe4 to offer a subscription-based managed service that combines the expertise of both companies – Cobweb, renowned for its cloud services, and KnowBe4, with its comprehensive training solutions. This collaboration provides organizations with a holistic approach to cybersecurity, leveraging Cobweb’s cloud infrastructure alongside KnowBe4’s training platform. Through this partnership, businesses can educate their employees on cybersecurity best practices, cultivate defensive behaviour and leverage secure cloud environments to protect their sensitive data.
To explore the KnowBe4 offering and experience a demo of our joint solution, email: sales.uae@cobweb.com or call us on: +971 44553100 for more details and assistance. This close partnership between KnowBe4 and Cobweb underscores our shared commitment to empowering businesses with the necessary tools and knowledge to combat cyber threats effectively.