Why is IT Infrastructure Security Important for Companies?
Imagine sailing on a ship, feeling the cool breeze, and admiring the vast expanse of the ocean. However, hidden under the surface, an iceberg poses a threat to the ship's safety. Similarly, in business, there are risks that can cause severe damage to the attainment of our goals. One such risk is unsecure IT infrastructure, which is often overlooked until it's too late, leading to workflow issues, security risks, and network downtime that can have disastrous consequences.
This blog post will explore the damaging costs associated with cyber-attacks and the role that IT infrastructure security plays in reducing the associated risks. Furthermore, we will provide a case study that exemplifies how a ransomware attack harmed a company and the steps taken to assist them in recovering, including valuable lessons learned along the way.
The increasing number of cyber-attacks and data breaches in IT infrastructure
The High Cost of cyber-attacks
IT infrastructure is crucial for businesses, and investing in IT infrastructure security can help avoid costly issues such as security breaches and downtime. In 2022, the average cost of a data breach was $9.44 million in the United States, almost double the 5.09 million price tag for the global average. Healthcare got hit really hard for the 12th year in a row. Healthcare had the highest average cost of 10 million. *https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach#3135994
Ransomware attacks are also becoming more common, with 41% of breaches caused by ransomware. The average cost of a ransomware attack to buisiness in 2022 was 4.54 million.
Investing in IT infrastructure security management can help businesses minimize these risks. A study by Microsoft found that companies that experienced a security breach lost an average of 13.6% of their revenue. Having robust IT infrastructure security in place can prevent such losses.
Despite these benefits, many businesses overlook IT infrastructure and IT security, choosing to focus on other areas like product development. However, IT security is an investment that can create a more productive and less costly environment for businesses in the long run.
Average real dollars saved when containing a data breach in 200 days or less by testing and implementing a Disaster Recovery Strategy
Protecting employee devices can improve their efficiency and enable them to work better through the day. This can boost employee satisfaction, which leads to higher productivity levels from employees, allowing them to deliver better results to customers and employers.
What is IT infrastructure security?
Infrastructure security refers to the measures put in place to protect the physical and digital components of an organization's IT infrastructure. It encompasses a range of strategies and practices aimed at safeguarding data, applications, networks, and hardware from threats such as cyber attacks, natural disasters, and human error.
Effective infrastructure security involves the implementation of multiple layers of protection, including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, access controls, encryption, and regular backups. It also requires ongoing monitoring and testing to identify and address vulnerabilities and potential risks. This blog post covers key considerations for infrastructure security and includes a case study about a customer impacted by ransomware.
The importance of having an IT infrastructure security plan in place
The importance of having an IT infrastructure security plan cannot be overstated. An IT infrastructure security plan is a comprehensive document that outlines an organization's approach to protecting its IT systems and data. It includes policies and procedures that are designed to mitigate the risks of cyber threats and data breaches. Having an IT infrastructure security plan in place can help to ensure that an organization is prepared to handle security incidents and can minimize the impact of such incidents on its operations.
The importance of Security Awarness Training
Security awareness training is important because it helps to educate employees, contractors, and vendors about the various risks and threats that can affect an organization's IT systems and data. This training helps to raise awareness of common cybersecurity risks and teaches employees how to recognize and respond to these threats.
One of the biggest risks to an organization's IT security is human error. Employees may unknowingly engage in risky behaviors, such as clicking on suspicious links or opening attachments from unknown senders, that can lead to cyber attacks or data breaches. Security awareness training can help employees recognize these risky behaviors and teach them best practices for avoiding them.
Security awareness training can also help to establish a culture of security within an organization. By emphasizing the importance of IT security and encouraging employees to take an active role in protecting the organization's data, organizations can create a security-focused culture that helps to mitigate the risks of cyber threats and data breaches.
In addition, many compliance frameworks and regulations require organizations to provide security awareness training to their employees. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and HIPAA requires organizations that handle Personal Identifiable Information (PII) to provide security awareness training to all personnel involved in handling PII data.
The Importance of Data Protection
Data protection is important because it helps to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization's data. Data is a valuable asset for many organizations, and protecting it is essential to maintaining business operations, maintaining trust with customers and stakeholders, and complying with regulatory requirements.
Confidentiality: Data protection helps to ensure that sensitive information remains confidential and is only accessible to authorized individuals. This includes protecting data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or modification. Unauthorized access to sensitive data can lead to data breaches, which can result in financial loss, reputational damage, and legal liability.
Integrity: Data protection helps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of an organization's data. This includes preventing unauthorized modifications or deletions of data, as well as ensuring that data is not corrupted or damaged. Data integrity is essential for maintaining the accuracy of business operations, financial reporting, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Availability: Data protection helps to ensure that data is available when it is needed. This includes implementing backup and recovery procedures to ensure that data can be recovered in the event of a disaster or data loss incident. Ensuring the availability of data is essential for maintaining business continuity and avoiding disruptions to operations.
Data protection is also becoming increasingly important due to the growing number of data privacy regulations, such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). These regulations impose strict requirements on organizations for protecting the privacy of personal data, and failure to comply can result in significant fines and legal liabilities.
IT infrastructure security real-world case study
A case study from BeCloud illustrates the importance of having a solid IT infrastructure security in place.
BeCloud Ransomware Case Study
Professional Services FirmInitially, the firm enlisted BeCloud to provide technical support and managed services for their legacy hardware. However, following a ransomware attack that caused extensive damage to the firm's data, computers, and servers, additional security services were approved and promptly implemented in response to the breach. | |
Issue | Ransomware attack rendered the business data inaccessible. |
BeCloud Solution | The implementation of Managed IT services that included backups and contingency plans facilitated a swift recovery of data. |
Cause | Suggestions for enhancing security and upgrading servers had been dismissed previously. |
Prevention | The customer acquired managed security services from BeCloud and implemented the suggested infrastructure upgrades for future security improvements. |
Outcome | The business was able to resume operations within a few days, thanks to the timely restoration of data from backups, which helped to minimize the impact of the breach. |
Lesson | IT security investment encompasses a variety of components, such as infrastructure upgrades, disaster recovery planning, maintenance, employee training, and monitoring. |
This case study highlights the importance of investing in IT infrastructure security to protect against potential threats and minimize the damage in case of a breach. In 2022, it took an average of 9 months to identify and contain a data breach. BeCloud contained the breach and restored data in less than a week.
Conclusion
In conclusion, just like the Titanic, businesses can be sailing towards their goals using technology unaware of risks that can cause significant damage. Investing in IT infrastructure and security management can help businesses protect themselves from the high cost of security breaches, downtime, and inefficiency by navigating around danger. It is essential to take these risks seriously and take action to protect your business.