@Risk

Email is fundamental to business communication.

But is this commonplace, everyday electronic correspondence a threat to your company’s data security and regulatory compliance?

It very well could be, and according to a recent study by Zix Corporation and Ponemon Institute,  IT professionals are growing increasingly concerned about these risks, especially now that more and more  business is conducted outside the office using mobile devices.

The survey, which received feedback from 830 IT and IT security practitioners, as well as IT compliance, legal and other specialists, found that: (more…)

Despite widespread awareness, cyberattacks are becoming  increasingly common.

As remarkable as it sounds, a new study from HP and the Ponemon Institute found that over a four-week period, the organizations surveyed experienced 72 successful attacks per week, an increase of nearly 45 percent from last year. (Note: More than 90 percent of all cybercrime costs were caused by malicious code, denial of service, stolen devices and web-based attacks.)

Of course, the financial impact of a cyberattack can be devastating. The Second Annual Cost of Cyber Crime Study also revealed that the median annualized cost of cybercrime incurred by a benchmark sample of organizations was $5.9 million per year, with a range of $1.5 million to $36.5 million each year per organization. This represents an increase of 56 percent from the median cost reported in the inaugural study published in July 2010. (Note: More than 90 percent of all cybercrime costs were caused by malicious code, denial of service, stolen devices and web-based attacks.)

Interestingly, the study looked deeper into the economic costs of cybercrime and found that: (more…)

Even though many have had to cope firsthand with disruptions caused by recent natural disasters such as Iceland’s volcanic eruption or the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, executives now see cyber attacks –rather than physical attacks –as potentially the most damaging to their supply chains, according to new report from PwC.

The report, Volume 4 of the Transport & Logistics’ 2030 series Securing the Supply Chain, is a joint project between PwC and the Supply Chain Management Institute (SMI) at EBS Business School in Germany.  It warns that cyber attacks are now so sophisticated that any business, or even country, could be at risk. (The German internet, for example, is attacked every two seconds, PwC says.)

On average, the 80 science, government and business executives polled agreed that there is a 56 percent probability of a rise in attacks in some form. Overall, those surveyed said they were even more concerned about hacker attacks affecting their supply chains than they were about actual physical attacks.

In addition, survey respondents said there was a 70 percent probability of logistics companies having to perform obligatory security checks on their whole supply chain, and they said there was a 60 percent probability that modern technology would offer businesses better protection.
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The nation’s electrical power grid is becoming increasingly interconnected through the internet, and while this technological sophistication provides significant benefits, it also comes hand-in-hand with considerable risk:

Enhanced interconnectivity means the power grid is now more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Fortunately, researchers are now hard at work, designing safeguards to help protect the grid from computer viruses trying to wreak havoc on the system.

For instance, Errin Fulp, professor of computer science at Wake Forest University, is developing an army of “digital ants” that can scour computer networks looking for threats such as computer worms and self-replicating programs designed to steal information or facilitate unauthorized use of computers. When one of these digital ants detects a threat, it is designed to send for more ants to converge at that particular location, drawing the attention of human operators to investigate further.

“The idea is to deploy thousands of different types of digital ants, each looking for evidence of a threat,” Fulp said in a press release. “As they move about the network, they leave digital trails modeled after the scent trails ants in nature use to guide other ants. Each time a digital ant identifies some evidence, it is programmed to leave behind a stronger scent. Stronger scent trails attract more ants, producing the swarm that marks a potential computer infection.”
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Of course, members of your Board of Directors worry about financial risk.

But, new survey results from EisnerAmper clearly indicate that financial risk isn’t the only issue that has board members biting their nails.

EisnerAmper’s second annual Board of Directors Survey, Concerns About Risks Confronting Boards, showed that in addition to financial risk, board members are also concerned about:

• Reputational risk (69 percent)
• Regulatory and compliance risk (61 percent)
• CEO succession planning ( 55 percent)
• IT risk (51 percent)

More than 140 board members, sourced from both NACD Directorship and EisnerAmper databases, participated in the survey. Respondents represented both public and private companies, and 31 percent identified themselves as serving on audit committees.

Deep-diving into the regulatory and compliance risk category, EisnerAmper found that the board members polled are most concerned about: (more…)