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Common cyber threats against digital companies have risen significantly in the last several years. The first two months of 2022 reported more cyber crimes than in 2018, according to data by CERT-In. The number used to be as low as $3 trillion in 2015. With rapid and indefinite technological growth, new and equally developed threats to security arise. A whole new host of cybersecurity threats have placed the world on high alert. Companies constantly look for malware, data breaches, vulnerabilities, etc.

Cybersecurity has become as integral a part of our lives as locks on our front doors. Cybercrime poses grave threats to company and customer data alike. Small and medium-sized enterprises fall victim to cyber-attacks more commonly. This is a consequence of a lack of investment in multi-layered cyber security measures such as publishing a bug bounty program.

What are Some Common Cyber Threats?

Businesses are run online, and all activities are becoming online-based. Such growing reliance on the internet has given rise to new, more sophisticated forms of cyber attacks. It is only likely that these threats will develop and present themselves in an increasingly brutal fashion over time.

While threats may seemingly spring up on companies, consequences take longer to present themselves, which may be further attributed to the lack of proper cybersecurity awareness that prevails in the business world. Small companies must take cyber awareness as seriously as big names in the industry.

Cyber threats to companies may take on multiple forms. Here’s a brief list of three common cyber threats digital companies face:

Third-Party Exposure

In today’s business world, all tasks are either automated or outsourced. It benefits businesses in multiple ways. Automation helps reduce the risk of manual error and the need for human intervention. Outsourcing gives companies the benefit of optimal time management while simultaneously achieving their standard task benchmarks.

With third-party business relationships becoming the norm, the risk of security breaches through those channels increases.

Third-party Exposure is the process by which an attacker uses third-party channels to breach their primary target’s tech infrastructure. Companies that outsource their business tasks usually implement proper security measures. But if the third-party sources lack the appropriate protection, a hacker can breach their networks and devices to gain unauthorized access to their primary target’s data.

Here’s a prime example of third-party risk:

In 2021, a company called Socialarks had its data breached. Socialarks is a digital company that was a third-party entity in relationships with Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. This data breach caused a massive leak of private and personal information of over 214 million users. Information like users’ phone numbers, email activity, and social media activity was leaked, which exposed millions of social media users to threats of identity theft, personal security risks, cyber threats, etc.

In the future, third-party risk will become increasingly prominent owing to the post-pandemic trend of outsourcing. Independent contractors, freelancers, and vendors, among others, are all third-party channels that pose threats to a company. It is essential to vet these channels and ensure they meet the necessary security criteria before onboarding.

Phishing

Since the beginning of email communication, phishing has been a standard method of breaching confidential information. Phishing is a method to gain unauthorized access to users’ credentials. A hacker can send infected emails that prompt users to enter their credentials into a seemingly normal web page query. These emails are embedded with viruses and malware. Any information entered into questions led from such emails will be shared with the hacker.

Attackers commonly use phishing emails to gain access to login credentials to critical databases of a company. Phishing emails appear to be from reputable and safe sources. From credit card information theft to installing malicious software on a user’s device, phishing poses various threats. Phishing is a cyber threat that one must be aware of as it is widespread.

The initial step in combating phishing is proper training and education of employees. With an eye for detail, one can recognize phishing emails. Phishing is usually targeted at high-level employees and executives. These users are more likely to access confidential and classified data that can harm a company if breached. Through training and simulated exercises, employees can gain insight into the workings of scam emails.

Along with user training, proper network security and access control must be practiced. Layered protection must be implemented to lessen the impact of phishing-related breaches.

Ransomware

Ransomware is any malicious software installed covertly on a user’s device. This malware then proceeds to encrypt data and files on the device, which renders the files useless unless decrypted with the correct key. The hacker then demands money or favors to decrypt the user’s data – a ransom. Malicious hackers, or black hat hackers, use Ransomware to hold confidential data hostage to blackmail users into fulfilling their demands.

Ransomware is not exactly new to the world of digital security. However, Ransomware is becoming an expensive form of cyber attack with every instance. In the last year, a survey taken of 1263 professionals in the cybersecurity domain showed that 66% of the companies suffered revenue losses as a result of ransomware. Ransomware has also caused a loss in leadership roles from resignation and termination. Failure to handle Ransomware attacks might also lead to the loss of reputation in addition to a loss in revenue.

In recent times, Ransomware is becoming commercialized. Professional black hat hackers offer Ransomware as a Service (RaaS). Subscribers to the service are provided with preset ransomware, which can be used to attack their target individuals or companies. RaaS providers take a predetermined portion of the ransom as payment. It goes to show that criminals find Ransomware to be affordable and convenient for carrying out small-time cybercrimes. But the companies affected by them incur losses that are often massive and difficult to recover from.

Ransomware as a Service is a cause for concern. Such services essentially mean Ransomware incidents will only rise in number.

Take Action Against Common Cyber Threats with Bug Bounty!

The above is merely a brief list of common cyber threats. Digital transformation of all businesses as we advance is inevitable. But staying alert and constantly updating your cybersecurity awareness can be a hassle while simultaneously running your business. Malicious hackers possess the time and resources to attack a company’s workings.

The blockchain-based bug bounty platform, BugBounter offers businesses 24/7 accessibility, flexible scoping, and more than 2500 cyber security experts from around the globe. Without a valid bug report coming from the ethical hacker, there is a guaranteed ROI, and no fees are allocated. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to a cybersecurity strategy. Even organizations that work in the same sector will have different requirements.

Get in touch with Bugbounter today and we will find the best bug bounty solution for your company’s needs!

Cyber resilience refers to an organization’s capacity to respond to and bounce back again from the effects of cyber attacks. Because traditional security measures are inadequate to guarantee sufficient cybersecurity, cyber resilience is crucial. The objective is to ensure that, following a cyber attack, the organization can do business as soon as possible. This blog will explain why it is essential for businesses to achieve cyber resilience and develop a solid cyber-resilience strategy.

How Can a Company Build a Strong Cyber Resilience?

In order to quickly respond to and recoup cyber threats, a business needs to develop cybersecurity awareness and resilience. Businesses face cyber risks. This is due to the increasingly complex and sophisticated techniques that target organizations. The rise of cyberattacks causes a massive need for ethical hacking on a global scale.

Identify your assets

For example, when interacting with a business, a retail customer expects a seamless experience in all areas. These consist of shopping, ordering, payment, assurance, and customer support. The same is valid for professional services like medical services and other advanced technologies. Business systems need to be highly interconnected to meet these expectations. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how things relate to one another and which processes are vital. Leading companies like Amazon, Flipkart, and many other eCommerce companies use automated systems to keep track of all processes. That way, they can identify which assets or systems to isolate during a disruption.

Internet security and email filtering

According to reports, over 90% of attacks on organizations begin with a malicious email. Relying solely on built-in cybersecurity assets could expose your company to cyber criminals.

Malicious links and files are the main methods of introducing malware into organizations’ systems for hacking, password theft, and eventual access to vital systems. The first defense against cyber attacks related to email or web browsing  is web and email filtering. Many potentially dangerous security breaches can be stopped at the outset. This is possible by incorporating email security and web filtering technologies.

Analyze and test backups

Consistently test and update the cyber-resilience policies governing mission-critical company assets and operations. According to modifications in company operations and the outcomes of exercises, update plans and procedures. Patch software and software applications whenever the latest changes or patches seem to be available.

Be sure to regularly update about the importance of senior management on the organization’s cyber defense. Backups must be reliable, secure, and accessible to guarantee business resilience. Regular testing, and detecting vulnerabilities in your systems to take precaution are vital procedures to ensure the data’s availability and integrity. Backups give the company more confidence in the data that has been backed up when tested. This is because mistakes or setbacks in the backup process can be detected and quickly fixed.

Make a recovery plan

How many interruptions can your business handle without compromising its ability to serve customers? A quick recovery time might be costly, but a relatively long one might result in an extended outage that is bad for business and business reputation. The best course of action for your business is to create or purchase recovery and backup solutions. These can let you keep updated backups. They must be easy to access and resistant to malware that destroys or corrupts backups. Each time your environment changes, or every three months, test your disaster recovery plan.

Your company can continue to operate with few interruptions with the aid of a well-tested, verified and repeatable response-and-recovery plan.

How Does Cyber Resilience Keep Companies Secure and Safeguard Their Data?

It aids you to be always be one step ahead

The best defense is prevention; advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are used to implement cyber resilience systems that can help detect suspicious activity before it becomes a serious threat. In addition to these techniques, publishing a bug bounty program on an outsourced platform can help the company strengthen their disaster recovery plan. Also by updating detection procedures, keeping an eye on logs, and becoming acquainted with typical data flows, you’ll be able to spot any irregularities right away. You should be able to assess a breach’s impact in addition to its presence with the proper monitoring.

You’ll be prepared for emergencies

As you strengthen your defenses, you’ll stop malicious hackers from erasing and destroying valuable data. Whenever it comes to safeguarding your data, there is no room for error.

You must continuously get the vulnerabilities in your systems detected, and update data protection measures to keep up with them and beat malicious hackers. By putting these cyber defense strategies into practice, you’ll be able to comprehend best practices and update plans frequently. Following a successful or unsuccessful attack, it will be simple to cope. It will make you prepared to make sure you are ready for the next response.

Other benefits:

A robust and reliable cyber resilience plan tailored to the needs of a business can assist you in recovering from hacking. One that is supported by a comprehensive plan and realistic risk assessments and has many advantages.

• Decreased financial losses and downtime
• Faster time for recovery
• Increased client loyalty and confidence
• Improved brand recognition

You must analyze your company, establish business goals, create a plan, and then update it as necessary to reap these benefits.

Did you know that the more money a startup raises, the more likely it is to be hacked? It is safe to say that every 39 seconds, there is a new attack on the web. Data also shows that startups are increasingly getting vulnerable to data breaches with each round of funding. It is not just the question of losing data; brand reputation and customer loyalty are also at stake.

As an investor of a startup, it is essential to understand the role of cybersecurity measures and how you can strengthen it with BugBounter. When a startup receives funding, malicious hackers are more likely to target it. Here’s why:

Why are Startups More Attractive to Hack When Funded?

First, the startup will have more resources available, which means that the hacker will have more access to information. Second, the startup will be more likely to have a higher profile, which means that the hacker will be able to gain more attention for their exploits. The startup will be more likely to have a more extensive user base, which means that the hacker will be able to cause more damage.

In short, a funded startup is a much more attractive target for a hacker and should be treated as such. Let’s take a look at why startups need cybersecurity and what they can do to stay secure.

Why Do Startups Need Cybersecurity?

With every corner of the world coming together online, cybercrime has seen an exponential boom. New techniques and proxy methods of orchestrating cyber attacks have been on the rise. Where conglomerates ran ahead with investing in infrastructure to combat it, small startups have had to balance out a new cost in their sheet that they had not envisioned.

Malicious hackers don’t need a huge team to orchestrate an attack; they need to find the growing business and build backward from deprioritized cybersecurity systems. Startups have been growing in the last few years due to a new wave of investment and fresh opportunities to capitalize on; users flock to a new app at a rapid pace because of the novelty, and they spend a disproportionate amount of time on the screen. For every update, testing is the core of checking how the product matches the expectations, but testing is often a go-live process when it’s a start up company. A go-live process is when new features are added without testing them for vulnerabilities.

Since the pandemic began, there have been multiple reports on how the dark web is hungry for data. More than 90% of the dark web is buzzing with hackers getting paid to hack into databases of new businesses. A few sectors are more susceptible to cyber threats because they handle sensitive data like BFSI and healthcare. Auditing is an essential cog in the wheel for ensuring security around the newly added features.

However, startups often tend to miss prioritizing cybersecurity. This is how:

How Startups Overlook Cybersecurity As An Option?

Every startup has a fundamental unique idea in the form of an intellectual property. Every startup’s long-term goal is to extend its services and continue to add to what it is already doing. The startup is keen on developing its product which is not final yet, and its investment goes towards building features and products into its existing offerings. Thus, most startups don’t think about becoming a target for cyber attackers because of the number of people already working in their development teams in different capacities. That’s why they don’t consider cyber security in the short term and look at it as a luxury they can invest in when the time comes. Across different types of startups, they remain vulnerable to cyber thefts if they never build the protection.

Consequences of Not Investing in Cybersecurity

When a person leaves a startup, that enterprise will have an account that’s barely used, which can, in return, cause multiple issues down the road. A startup where passwords don’t change means phishing, and ransomware attacks are always a clickbait ad away. Reports from Cybint put 95% of the responsibility on human errors in making cyber threats that much more accessible than they should be.

Without the necessary security measures, hackers could easily access the startup’s sensitive data, including customer information and financial records. It could result in a loss of business and damage the company’s reputation. Additionally, the company could be subject to fines and other penalties if it is found responsible for a data breach. Finally, a lack of cybersecurity investment could make it difficult for the startup to attract new investors or partners.

In today’s business environment, startups need to be aware of the importance of cybersecurity and take steps to protect themselves from potential threats. There are a few strategies that startups can do to stay secure.

What Can Startups Do to Protect Themselves from Being Hacked?

Two-factor authentication is the stepping stone into cybersecurity for your startup company. An IT security assessment with engineers is needed to understand how they are chaining together the different kinds of authentications and verifications. The assessment helps design the architecture against cyber attacks and prepare against cyber threats. The next step is creating a code structure where you can be notified if any hacker tries to hack into your systems. It will keep the development team on their toes to maintain a high level of information security.

The company’s software team needs to know where the company is exposed. A hacker will try to collect several assets and look around each vulnerability. The goal is to get into the source code, where all the credentials are encoded and stored. A way to get there is by understanding where they are hosting it, AWS, GCP, or any other cloud data platform. Then the hacker can aim at breaking the connection between different infrastructures. The following points should be on your priority list as you build robust cyber security for your startup:

• Build your internal security team
• Try out a vulnerability disclosure program
• Hire white hat hackers and analyze from time to time. Publishing a bug bounty program assists to get the security vulnerabilities in your system detected and reported by cybersecurity experts.

The Paradigm Shift to Address Cybersecurity

To address cybersecurity, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the startup community. Admins and management are responsible for accounting for malicious activities and must educate every part of the organization. From accounts to operations to sales, the awareness to understand the loss from a simple attack has to flow throughout the system. An estimated $20 billion has been paid as ransom pay-outs. The world is taking notice of the necessity of spending on cybersecurity. The market is slated to reach a valuation of $2 trillion by the end of 2022.

Strengthen Your Cybersecurity with BugBounter

Invest in your company with BugBounter‘s bug bounty to build solutions to get your vulnerabilities reported. BugBounter’s bug bounty is a 24/7 available, cost-effective solution that provides high ROI. With BugBounter, you can publish a bug bounty in a short time, and receive your first report within the first 24 hours thanks to our community of more than 2500 cybersecurity experts at your disposal.

Connect with us to know more.

As an CTO, you must be aware that the world is taking a step forward in technological advancements, and the digital space has become more complicated. An increase follows the improvement of technology infrastructure in cyber attacks. Companies are facing new and advanced forms of cyber threats every day. Implementing a robust cybersecurity plan is essential to combat these cyber threats.

A CTO’s responsibilities increase in direct proportion to the cyber threats getting more sophisticated everyday. These responsibilities are particularly relevant to the company’s online workspace. Any cyber threat that the online workspace might face directly affects the data security, finances, and reputation of the company.

It is needless to say that cybersecurity is a critical element as it directly impacts the day-to-day operations of any organization. Therefore, a CTO should should ask the right questions before taking action for their company’s cybersecurity. As BugBounter, we gathered three cybersecurity every CTO should ask in this blog.

“How is my company prone to cyber-attacks?”

Businesses are impossible to conducted without an online workspace. Almost everything runs on the internet, from social media marketing to cloud-based solutions. But as technology evolves, so does the threat to security.

Statistical data shows that the fourth quarter of 2020 alone saw data breaches of 125 million. Thus, the need for cybersecurity awareness not only arises but increases rapidly. Out of such awareness arises the first, most important question a CTO must ask themselves – “How is my company prone to cyber-attacks?”

Cyber threats might harm your company through the following channels:

• Phishing,
• Cookie poisining,
• Technological vulnerabilities such as failing to update firewalls and antivirus softwares.

“Why should I invest in Cybersecurity?”

Almost all sensitive and confidential information is stored online using cloud technology. Therefore, cybersecurity is a crucial investment for every business to safeguard this sensitive information from minor viruses to ransomware attacks.

In the initial days of booming software advancements, basic systems like anti-virus software and firewalls were installed onto devices to prevent, detect, and combat viruses and malware. But those basic systems are not enough to combat the sophisticated data breaches that cause financial damage.

With cybercriminals changing, businesses and companies realize that basic systems like anti-virus software and firewalls are not enough to combat these cybercriminals. Therefore, companies collaborate with cybersecurity firms to lay down multiple layers of protection. Irrespective of the size of the company, cybersecurity is an element that requires investment.

A company that understands the need for and scope of cybersecurity is a company that will thrive, survive and evolve with the right cybersecurity strategy.

You can find more information about why should you invest in cybersecurity in this blog post by BugBounter.

“Should I hire ethical hackers?”

The technique of identifying weaknesses in any technical infrastructure that an attacker could use to take advantage of a business or an individual is known as ethical hacking, and that’s we do here at BugBounter. Ethical hackers conduct researches to identify breaches in the system security. Companies call upon them to uncover potential breaches and vulnerabilities in their security systems.

This process involves attempts to exploit vulnerabilities and determine whether malicious access is possible. Ethical hackers offer companies insight into how their data lacks security, thereby enabling the companies to focus on the problem.

Ethical hackers offer the following services to companies:

• Finding exploitable vulnerabilities,
• Demonstration of cyber attack methods,
• Facilitate preparation to combat cyber attacks.

These professionals provide clear demonstrations of potential threats. They report every exploitable vulnerability in a company’s tech infrastructure. They use methods similar to their criminal counterparts, the “black hat hackers,” to find security breaches. It helps companies to be better prepared and even prevents most threats to their business.

BugBounter: The Solid Answer to the “Should I Hire Ethical Hackers?” Question

BugBounter is the reason why you would say “yes” to the previous question, “should I hire ethical hackers.”

Our cost-effective bug bounty programs help you see the security vulnerabilities in your system. With agile processes based on blockchain, our  24/7 available bug bounty platform operates cost-effectively. We provide bug bounty programs for companies that want to have an external team of cybersecurity experts identifying the chinks in their armor with our platform of more than 2500 ethical hackers.

Connect with BugBounter today, and take the most efficient step for your company’s security.

“Protecting data is protecting business.” This sentence indicates that every company should take the necessary cybersecurity measures to protect the corporate and customer data which are crucial for safeguarding their business. This data includes details about the operational business, finances, products, and clients. Losing this data can lead to a loss of revenue, customers, and even market share.

With the startup community and businesses, expansion is at the forefront of priorities. Business data is also a critical indicator that decides the direction of the business and puts the insights into numbers. While data becomes the apple of the eye, data protection seems to be overlooked, ironically. 

Read along to understand the critical aspects of data protection and how it makes a difference in business.

Data Protection: What Is It?

There is a massive flux of data across businesses at an unprecedented rate. This data system needs to be running at any given time. Maintenance or update should not cause downtime. Data protection is critical for ensuring data integrity, homogeneity and privacy for your business growth.

Data protection safeguards business digital data via stringent IT security measures, physically and logically, against malpractice and loss. It includes information that is saved on your servers as well as any device used for official purposes. Physical security measures are designed to protect against physical access to data, while logical security measures are designed to protect against unauthorized access to data. Common data protection measures include encryption, password protection, and firewalls. Data protection also includes data restoration in case of data loss or corrupt files.

What Kind of Data Needs Protection?

Data is one of an organization’s highly critical assets in the modern world. However, data can also be a liability if it falls into the wrong hands. Thus, organizations need to take adequate steps to protect their data. Here are five types of data that organizations need to protect:

Customer Data

Customer data is the information organizations collect about their customers, such as contact information, and purchase history.

Financial Data

Financial data includes information about an organization’s finances, such as income and expenses. This data is essential for making sound financial decisions and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

Employee Data

Information on a company’s employees, such as contact details, employment experiences, and performance evaluations, is referred to as employee data. This data is vital for managing talent and facilitating adequate compensation.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets enable an organization to stay ahead of the curve and acquire a higher market share. This data directly impacts the overall performance as well.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property includes expert inventions like trademarks, patents, and copyrights. This data type is crucial for companies in industries such as technology and pharmaceuticals, where innovation is key to success.

Risks of Neglecting Cybersecurity

Business Intelligence and data analytics are the future of businesses and growth organizations. With BI software becoming mainstream tools for analyzing, the investment in data protection is also bound to grow. What starts with customer dissatisfaction and drop-off leads to several issues. A few of them are listed below:

• Data loss
• Operational downtime to address issues
• Financial losses compounded by customer drop-off
• Lack of credibility and mistrust
• Legal issues

What Are The Challenges in Protecting Data?

As technologies develop iteratively, the problems surrounding business data are becoming more and more complex; the way ahead is to understand where and then address these cyber threats one after another.

Growth of Data

With the amount of new data generated every second reaching 2 megabytes, organizations have to put stringent data protection practices in place. More than 5.9 billion user records were stolen in 2021, breaking the previous record. Cybersecurity measures should address the pace at which data is generated and analyzed.

Latest Advancements in Technology

AI and IoT have been the talk of the town for quite some time. With technology reaching every part of the world and households, devices like smartphones and audio-operated speakers are primary data creation sources. It puts the responsibility on the device vendors to release regular security updates and patches against vulnerabilities. With 2021 seeing more than 2 billion attacks on the ecosystems, all looking for private information on the users, the time to take action is now.

Consequences of Unprotected Data on Your Business

Malicious hackers understand that investment rates are directly proportional to the size of the business. A whopping 43% of breaches are in small and medium-sized businesses. That’s why data breaches are a make-or-break situation for several organizations. The following are the cyber security threats you would be putting your business in if you neglect cybersecurity investments:

Credibility Issues

The provider-customer relationship is a bond that takes a lot of time to develop because your clients choose you out of brand loyalty. When a data breach affects a big company, they have the resources to investigate and analyze where it originated from. That’s not the case with small and medium-sized businesses and with the business data they operate with.

Financial Issues

The market is flooded with cyber attackers waiting for the opportunity to capitalize. A report in 2021 stated that the data breach costs reached approximately 4.24 Million USD, with a year-on-year rise of 10%. With remote working being the new normal, the cost of data breaches has increased to $4.96 Million in a workplace based primarily on remote working.

Legal Action

A more prominent company can take on legal cases and issues, but the margin of error with a startup is less. As the company goes through a challenging period, the founder is responsible for the lack of structure and the breakdown. One such example is the Facebook-Cambridge data breach that made the share price drop by more than 100 Billion USD over the span and a lawsuit settlement of about USD 5 Billion.

With business growth and market share directly impacted by the data’s value, it is clear that protecting data is protecting businesses.

How Can BugBounter and Bug Bounty Help?

BugBounter helps you see the vulnerabilities in your system. With agile processes based on blockchain, our  24/7 available bug bounty platform operates cost-effectively. We provide bug bounty programs for companies that want to have an external team of cybersecurity experts identifying the chinks in their armor. Our platform of more than 2500 cybersecurity experts’ knowledge goes way beyond what is ordinary. Connect with BugBounter today to learn how we help.

Reputation management is a vital component of running a successful business. Reputation is the public perception of the company, business, and workings. It is a company’s image that drives customer traffic. Businesses with a good brand image are perceived as more reliable. It provides opportunities for such companies to charge their customers revenue-yielding prices for their products and services. Reputation also promotes customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing adds to brand awareness and, in effect, cuts down on marketing costs.

While there are multiple threats to reputation, cyber-attacks are a factor that severely impacts a company’s image. Any cybersecurity breach can potentially damage your customers’ perception of your company leading to significant losses, negative publicity, and in some cases, even shutting down a business. Therefore, it becomes vital that a company handles cyber threats with care to manage its reputation.

Cyber Attack Tsunami

Cyber attacks are malicious or accidental threats that might exploit your device or network vulnerabilities and breach your data. They have been a common phenomenon since the boom of the internet. Hackers develop increasingly sophisticated methods to attack a company’s servers or devices to steal or destroy data. From phishing emails to ransomware, the digital transformation of businesses has always given rise to cyber threats. Cyber attacks are a skyrocketing trend in today’s digital economy.

A cyber attack, if successful, can severely impact your business. The consequences of a cyber attack can be of two different types:

• Financial: Cyber attacks inevitably cost companies a loss of revenue. The financial cost of a cyber attack includes corporate information theft, theft of financial credentials and money, hindrance in conducting revenue-yielding trade, loss of clients, etc. Another factor of economic damage is the cost incurred by companies to handle and recover from the outcome of cyber attacks.
• Reputational: The trust a customer places in your company is the foundation of any lasting business relationship. A lapse in cyber security can negatively impact a customer’s confidence in your brand. It can result in a loss of customers, which leads to a loss of sales and revenue. Reputational damage is not limited to customers. It can also influence your business relationships with third-party entities such as vendors and supplies.

Read more about the reputational damage from the cyber attack tsunami.

Reputational Damage

Every company bears the risk of reputational damage. Minor cases of failures in customer service and defective products can cause customers to second-guess their trust in a company. Such damage is repairable with solutions like freebies or discounts.However, It is a different scale when a company’s security is breached, and it loses valuable customer data.

From banking credentials to login passwords, trade activities involve exchanging confidential information. A lapse in cyber security around payment gateways and portals can result in a massive loss to the company’s reputation.

Reputational damage not only results in the loss of existing customers but also bears the risk of losing potential customers. Word-of-mouth spread of any news about a data breach can cause potential customers to move on to other options in the market. Companies spend millions to repair the damage caused by cyber-attacks. They must restore public perception by spending resources on implementing new security layers. It must then be marketed to convince former and potential customers alike that your company is secure and trustworthy.

A simple example of such an instance would be the 2021 Facebook data breach. In 2021, over 500 million Facebook users got their personal information leaked to a public hacker forum, causing a massive online storm that severely impacted Facebook’s reputation. Users questioned Facebook’s protection of their privacy. The social media giant had to spend resources and time to remedy the issue.

Impact on Customers

When a customer engages in business with a company, there is a significant exchange of information. In today’s internet-based business world, information security is vital to maintaining a lasting business-customer relationship. Customers prioritize privacy, and a company needs to protect their personal information. Customer data includes their names, email addresses, banking information, etc. Maintaining the privacy of a customer’s data can cement their trust in your company and its workings.

Cyber security implies that customer data is also protected along with the company’s data. Companies regularly access multiple exploitable customer data, from personal to financial information. In a breach, any leak or theft of such information can result in a range of damage to a customer’s life and livelihood. For instance, most internet users have the habit of assigning the same password to different platforms and accounts. If such crucial information were to fall into the hands of a malicious hacker, it could potentially ruin a user’s life.

A primary example would be the Equifax data breach of 2017. Equifax is a company that primarily deals with data traffic. Around 143 million consumers had their personal data breached. It included names, dates of birth, personal addresses, addresses, and in some cases, even credit information. This breach opened up opportunities for multiple instances of identity theft and fraud, and the number of victims affected would have been numerous.

Reputation Management

In most cases, companies that lack cybersecurity awareness fall victim to cyber-attacks leading to a loss of brand image, which results in a loss of sales and revenue. A pattern of a purely reactive approach to cyber attacks can be easily observed.

Reputation management related to cyber security has to begin in the early stages of a company. A proactive approach can help businesses maintain or regain customer trust in the case of a security breach. Here’s a list of measures a company can take to combat reputational risk from cyber threats proactively:

• Access management: Restrict access to confidential and exploitable data. Establish a zero-trust networking structure. It essentially means that all third-party entities are screened and approved before joining hands with your company.
• Purchase access control systems: Access control systems help companies audit all users that can access, change, or approve data and permissions.
• Invest in cybersecurity: From the initial stages of a company’s journey, it is advisable to invest in quality cybersecurity systems. From apps to companies, companies can choose from a wide range of cyber security providers. Bug bounty can be considered as a strong method for a company to protect their data since the potential security vulnerabilities in their systems are constantly reported by cybersecurity experts.

In case of a cyber-attack, companies can manage and maintain their reputation by promoting transparency. Once a cyber attack has been realized, the initial step would be to spread awareness about the breach. The time it takes for a company to announce a data breach substantially impacts its reputation. A company’s open admission of a security lapse and the remedy pace can make or break how a customer perceives the company.

BugBounter’s Bug Bounty Can Help You Keep Your Image Reliable

BugBounter offers companies a bug bounty platform which is 24/7 available, flexible, and cost-effective. We have an ever-growing platform of more 2.700 cybersecurity experts eager to detect and report the security vulnerabilities in your systems. On our cost-effective platform, you can choose the amount of the reward according to your budget, and only pay when a valid security bug is reported.

Connect with BugBounter today, and we can decide what would be the most effective option for your business.

Knowing how to build a cyber security culture has become the norm for all organizations in all industries today. The cyber security culture is predominantly gaining momentum in the digital industry, with the growing concern because of cyber attacks. One cyber-attack can leave an entire organization devastated and deprived of its power to grow. Organizations put in years of effort to grow in all aspects. Cyber threat is an issue that needs immediate intervention and redressal.

Building a cybersecurity culture has always been an essential part of hybrid workplaces. However, organizations need to change how they view the cyber threat landscape fundamentally. Cybersecurity policies have constantly been changing in the past years, with new amendments added every year. Security professionals addressed new cybersecurity challenges on international platforms. Identifying the latest risks and aligning with the cyber security strategy is essential to deal with evolving security risks.

In this Cybersecurity Awareness Month special blog post by BugBounter, you will learn more about cybersecurity culture and the challenges in building one.

What is a Cyber Security Culture?

The cybersecurity culture is a work environment with IT systems, processes, and technology built with cybersecurity to protect the data handled by the organization. It is also about educating the organization’s people to follow cyber security culture to make it a better workspace.

Fostering a cybersecurity culture also ensures that employees are trained with cyber security awareness and that everyone can be a part of forming a defense against possible cyber attacks and breaches. Recent happenings in the cyber security world, like the attack against the Estonian government, claimed by Russian hackers, malicious plugins in WordPress websites, or the critical Bitbucket vulnerability, raise serious questions about the existing cyber security measures.

Cybersecurity initiatives aim to nurture a culture where members realize their responsibility towards their working organization. They recognize how their roles and actions can impact overall security. Investments in cybersecurity awareness programs have rocketed over the last few years. Still, it has not helped fully mitigate cybersecurity risks. It can only happen if the security teams, development teams, decision-makers, and key stakeholders work as a single unit.

Building a Cyber Security Culture Today

The cybersecurity culture is built on the shared values, beliefs, and behaviours that shape how employees think about and approach security. It starts with clear communication from leadership about the significance of security and what it means for the organization. Building a cybersecurity culture requires ongoing education and training to ensure that everyone knows best practices and how to play their part in keeping the organization secure. It also necessitates continuous reinforcement through consistent messaging and reminders about the importance of security. Ultimately, a thriving cybersecurity culture is constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing landscape of threats. By taking a proactive approach and continuously reinforcing the importance of security, organizations can build a strong cybersecurity culture that will help them stay safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

Challenges of Building a Cyber Security Culture

Building a cybersecurity culture is not easy, as several aspects must be kept in mind. For instance, an organization may face the challenge of not having the proper funding for investing in cybersecurity training or practices. A cybersecurity culture will not spring itself into action if you just spread cybersecurity awareness within your organization.

The following must be kept in mind while building a cybersecurity culture.

• Aligning with security team objectives: Security policies in cybersecurity culture must be intact. Aligning the existing organizational architecture to new policies can be complex. The needs of organizations and security teams should go hand in hand to build a robust cyber security culture.
• Competitors getting ahead: The toxicity within the organizations in the same industry may drive security challenges within themselves. The impact of such competitions can be intense and can affect the very cause of building a security culture for mutual growth.
• Lack of right security tools and technology: The organization’s top security team can be experts in the security enforcement job. However, transforming the entire security culture can get complicated if they do not have access to the latest tools and applications to build a cybersecurity culture.

Best Practices to Build a Cyber Security Culture

Building a cyber security culture should be a company’s main priority if it looks forward to growing in the long term. If building a cyber security culture calls for altering the organizational objectives, the top hierarchical management should brainstorm and figure out a way to implement it. Tactics and strategies for cyber security should involve thinking way ahead of how a malicious hacker might think and stage a cyber attack.

Implementing cyber security awareness requires an empathetic approach to make people feel that they are a part of cybersecurity practices implemented in the organization. Cyber security training should inculcate values and ethics in a broader sense and in stressing the importance of cyber security in corporate culture.

Some of the best practices that guarantee to help build a cybersecurity culture are:

Have a Proper Security Implementation Plan

A chartered implementation plan will ensure that “informational security” practices are enforced at all hierarchical levels. It will also pave the way for building a framework for implementing future cyber security practices that may need only a few changes.

Make Security Practices Easier

Security practices should be easier to follow so that employees don’t feel burdened with their current workloads. For instance, the security team can suggest pre-installed security firmware and security checking applications that automatically run on the working systems as they are started.

Invest in Cyber Security Awareness Training

Cyber Security training should be fun and rewarding, propelling employees to participate in cyber security sessions and practices. Companies can hire top trainers to give insights on the latest cyber security threats and ways to solve them.

Invest in the Right Security Tools

The digital market offers several tools and services for building cyber security culture. But how do you find the right one that suits your company’s needs? Ensure to go for licensed and brand versions with good reviews, as safety is a top priority that cannot be compromised on cheap tools.

Cyber Security Culture: A Step to Protect Existing IT Systems

Good cybersecurity practices go a long way in establishing innovation and order while growing sustainably. While traditional cyber security practices are taking a backseat, newer ones should be embraced to drive cyber security solutions in automation. Cybersecurity culture helps mitigate risks and enhance IT processes without investing in repairing the damage. BugBounter helps companies looking to building a cyber security culture by offering bug bounty services. With bug bounty, companies can enforce security in their systems and protect their sensitive data from cyber-attacks more efficiently than ever.

BugBounter offers bug bounty services providing 24/7 availability, scoping flexibility, and cost-effective manual penetration testing with more than 2700 cybersecurity experts. With BugBounter, you will have the advantage of not being charged unless the cybersecurity experts raise a valid bug report. Connect with BugBounter to get your cyber security systems in place today! Leave us a message, and we will assist you in finding what’s suitable for your organization.

Protecting your digital assets from a cyber attack is an ongoing process for any organization. Securing data in digital assets valuable to every organization is essential as they store and manage data relevant to their functioning. Business owners, regardless of which industry they are in, have to safe-keep their digital assets. For example, if you’re running an automobile company, your physical assets, which may come in motor parts, keep the business running. However, the trade secrets regarding the formulae for the motor parts are stored online. For eCommerce companies, digital assets such as image files, digital documents, and other applications play a significant role.

Top management must lead the initiatives to protect critically important data, applications, and systems to build digital resilience. The critical importance of a company looking to protect its digital assets against cyber threats is identifying the assets that need protection. Protecting every digital asset may not be required, and organizations may not have the option to invest their time, money, and resources in securing every asset.

Read this blog to learn more about protecting digital assets. Reach out to BugBounter to understand how to differentiate between the different ways to protect them.

Why Protect Digital Assets?

Digital business models should address the major pain points faced in cyber security and ways of coping with the risks. For instance, cyber-attacks are bound to happen if the working systems are not integrated with interfaces that are not secure. As the saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure”; mitigating the cyber security risk is better than repairing the damage.

Systems breaches should not be taken lightly, as they have been multiple in the past few years. New cyber security attacks have grown immune to the security models that are improvised from time to time. Staying updated with the latest cyber security issues and working to control the problems helps form proper defenses from future attacks. Cyber security defenses are designed in alignment with business operations so they don’t interfere with the existing architecture across different parts of the organization.

Ways to Protect Digital Assets

For digital resilience to exist, an organization’s security team should identify its primary assets, including software, IT systems, and other data management utilities. Applications and business processes must be designed while giving priority to information security. This cross-functional strategy helps build digital resilience by identifying and assessing possible vulnerabilities to find the best solution.

Keep the following things in mind to establish the protection of digital assets within your organization:

Hire An Expert Team

As you start the journey towards digital asset protection, it’s best to utilize proven experience to avoid loss of resources. An expert team or an individual consultant would be able to take up full responsibility for the IT security of a company if your digital assets are the primary tool. Of course, you may have set aside some investment for installing security systems as a whole. But every business will look forward to achieving cyber security without investing many resources. An excellent agency may come with a lot of hands-on experience and industry knowledge that will make things smoother for you.

Authorize Permissions to Only Those Who Require

Giving all employees the same level of access to company assets may be more convenient, but it is not a safe measure against cybersecurity threats. Following the same patterns can be a great advantage for hackers to enter your systems. Also, your employees may fall prey to phishing and other data security issues they may be unaware of.

Many tools and services are available to keep track of data and who has access to it. For instance, instead of allowing everyone in the company to acquire access to employee data, you can restrict the access to only the concerned department. Or better yet, you can provide access to only such information that is relevant to the employees in the first place.

Have An Inventory of All Your Assets

Even after implementing cyber security, your assets can be stolen or exploited, which can devastate the whole organizational functioning. Minimize such damages by preparing an inventory listing down all your assets. By having a record of every asset you own, you can identify whenever there is a threat or issue and do a round-up check to confirm that every asset is in place. Doing so can ensure that a particular asset is intact and smoother functioning of all units.

Implement Security Measures

Digital assets, when under threat, would mean physical assets should also need monitoring. As physical assets are the storehouse of digital assets. Hence, if you plan on protecting them, you should enforce security measures that keep physical assets also secure. Install alarm systems if the security tools find a system breach or unauthorized access. Ensure that you enforced security measures on the following physical assets:

• CCTV cameras
• Access control systems
• Firewall
• Incident response software

Keep Software and Tools Up-To-Date

Outdated software may look like an affordable option, but your business will suffer in the long run. A hacker may have updated tools, and your outdated software may malfunction and exploit your digital assets.

In short, keeping your software up-to-date is not a choice but a necessity if you are serious about securing organizational assets and protecting your business. Besides, extra load from outdated software affects physical assets, which can cost you more in the future.

Backup Your Files Regularly

Data loss is a common thing that happens in organizations dealing with a vast amount of data. There is no quick way to eliminate data loss unless you have certain data management practices.

Create an extra repository to store backup data of your files so that you don’t have to face permanent data loss. You can also do it manually by copying the assets and saving them on external data storage.

Consequences of Not Protecting Your Digital Assets

Data breaches, a common occurrence, happen when hackers gain access to an organization’s systems. It can lead to the loss of customer trust and confidence and financial damages. In some cases, it may even result in legal action against the organization. Another potential consequence is reputational damage. In the even of a digital asset breach, the resulting publicity can damage its reputation and make it difficult to attract new customers and partners. Organizations must take steps to protect their digital assets in this era’s rapidly connected world.

Protect Critical Digital Assets with BugBounter

Protecting digital assets is a part of cybersecurity practices for businesses to grow sustainably in the long term. It is all about investing early rather than working around to solve a cyber security issue after you face it. When protected, critical digital assets provide a safe environment for the organization’s employees.

In the era of digitalization, every company is a technology company. And as digitization advances, so do the risks and challenges against cybersecurity. Today, one of the most pressing concerns for companies is how to protect their digital assets. Businesses have much to lose, from customer data and financial information to trade secrets and intellectual property, in case of compromising. We are a company that offers bug bounty solutions for digital assets as a measure against cyber security attacks. We work with companies to support them in mitigating the risks associated with sensitive data. As BugBounter, we help companies detect their most critical risks with our community of more than 2700 cybersecurity experts. Contact us here, and we will assist you in finding what’s suitable for your company.