Cyberattacks on big companies: what managers need to know
This trend is continuing in 2024 and shows no signs of slowing. Without sufficient protective measures, companies are exposed to various risks, including expensive production outages, high restoration costs, legal penalties, loss of reputation, customer churn and often also contractual penalties. A successful cyberattack can result in extremely high financial penalties, as well as having significant hidden costs.
Successful cyberattacks can significantly impact a company’s economic resilience
In 2023, the European data protection authorities imposed fines of nearly three million euros per infringement of the GDPR, setting a new record. Experts anticipate that these penalties will increase further, as the threat situation is becoming increasingly complex. If companies do not sufficiently protect personal data from cyberattacks, they may face fines under the GDPR. It is therefore not unlikely that a company could be penalised in multiple ways if a cyberattack occurs: criminals steal and sell data, customers leave and the authorities impose penalties.
In many cases, cyberattacks are not complex hacks of firewalls or other security solutions; instead, companies often make things much easier for criminals. Attacks frequently begin with a single email that can have an enormous impact. Projections show that 392.5 billion emails will be sent and received per day worldwide by 2026 (source Statista) (https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/252278/umfrage/prognose-zur-zahl-der-taeglich-versendeter-e-mails-weltweit). This highlights the importance of email as a means of communication and also as a potential hazard that big companies in particular must thoroughly address.
Phishing and ransomware attacks remain high
Phishing and ransomware attacks are some of the biggest threats. Attackers that gain access to a network via phishing often start by stealing data, in particular financial and business information, personal details and other sensitive information.
After stealing the data, attackers encrypt the information with ransomware and blackmail the company. Months will often pass between the initial intrusion and the actual ransomware attack, during which attackers can collect and intercept data undetected.
A study by the Cyber Rescue Alliance (https://www.cyberrescue.co.uk) shows that virtually every company across the globe has been the target of at least one phishing attack. In 12 percent of the successful attacks, the attackers had full access to the company’s data for a year before encrypting it with ransomware. The financial consequences of such attacks are particularly significant for big companies.
Indeed, bBig companies are particularly vulnerable to data breaches due to the complexity of their infrastructure. This complexity means that even internal experts lose sight of the overall picture, making it easier for attackers to exploit weaknesses. In complex environments, attackers can more quickly find security flaws that have often gone unnoticed. Outdated software and inadequately fixed security flaws further exacerbate the problem. To ensure effective protection, big companies must review and update their systems regularly to identify and fix potential security flaws.
Human error is an issue
Another major risk factor is human error. Big companies have a lot of people working for them, increasing the number of targets for cyberattacks. Phishing attacks often target employees who can reveal access information with a single careless click. Attackers exploit these points of weakness without having to overcome firewalls or servers. A single careless click by a member of staff can trigger extensive data breaches. Companies must therefore follow a zero-trust strategy and ensure that employees only have access to the data that they need for their work.
The probability of a successful attack increases with the number of employees, making training in how to handle phishing and other cyberthreats essential. Without comprehensive training, the likelihood of successful data breaches sharply increases, as employees are not sufficiently aware of how to handle phishing. At the same time, phishing attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and professional, for example thanks to the use of AI bots and deepfakes. Even IT professionals can fall victim, as a cyberattack on a Microsoft engineer in 2023 shows. Many companies do not have a sufficiently established error culture – employees who accidentally allow malware into the network will often hide this fact for fear of the consequences. Companies must promote a culture where errors are reported and can be quickly remedied, in order to prevent greater damage.
Complex supply chains are more vulnerable
Another significant risk for big companies comes from their supply chains, which are often complex. Attackers can attack various points in the supply chain, particularly areas where protection is at its weakest.
A successful attack on a partner can endanger a company’s own systems. It is therefore important to monitor the entire supply chain and ensure that all involved are sufficiently protected.
After all, a supply chain is only as resistant to cyberattacks as its weakest link. This is particularly important in the context of regulatory requirements such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the NIS2 Directive.
Big companies can use targeted measures and a comprehensive security strategy to significantly reduce the risk of cyberattacks and protect their data more effectively. As part of this, it is vital that the security infrastructure is continually monitored and adapted to keep up with constantly changing threats. Only a proactive approach and a comprehensive security structure will enable big companies to protect their data effectively and minimise the financial and reputational damage caused by cyberattacks.
Proactive measures and future-oriented security strategies
As well as the aforementioned measures, companies must make increasing use of proactive security strategies in order to identify potential threats at an early stage and thus successfully neutralise them. This includes implementing forward-looking monitoring systems that continually analyse network activities and identify suspicious behaviour patterns in real time. Artificial intelligence and machine learning play a key role in this, by analysing large quantities of data and identifying anomalies in good time.
In addition, companies need to invest in ‘red team and blue team’ exercises, which involve simulating an attack on the company’s own systems to identify weaknesses and improve the security departments’ responsiveness.
Another key element is collaborating with external safety experts and sharing threat information within the sector. By developing partnerships and participating in security networks, companies can benefit from each other’s experience and work together to prepare for new threats that arise. Furthermore, regular audits and penetration tests should be performed to check that existing security measures are effective and enable ongoing improvement.
Finally, it is vital to establish a culture of security throughout the entire company. As well as providing employees with regular training, this also means that security awareness needs to be embedded at every level of the corporate hierarchy. Managers need to understand the importance of cybersecurity and provide suitable resources to ensure that security measures can be implemented and monitored. Only a comprehensive, proactive and collaborative security strategy will enable big companies to successfully meet the growing challenges of cybersecurity and protect their valuable data and resources.