Whilst cyber-attacks on larger businesses make the news, such attacks on SMEs can break the bank.
With concrete evidence showing that 21% of businesses that identified security breaches ended in losing money, data, or other assets, and 81% of consumers opting for no involvement with companies that had suffered a data breach, the cost of a cyber-attack could be long-lasting.
As a construction business employing modern technologies, you might feel safe in the knowledge that the bulk of your operations take place offline and therefore assume that you are less vulnerable to cyber threats than businesses in other industries. Sadly, this is a common misconception as you don’t need to be a digital business to be a lucrative target for cyber criminals. In fact, over 75% of respondents within the construction, engineering and infrastructure industries replied to a recent Forrester survey revealing that they had been victim to a cyber incident within the last 12 months.
Let us ask the following questions:
If you answered yes to any of those, then sadly you are at risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime. Ransomware is one of the main types of cyber-attacks that businesses in the construction industry are facing, this is where cybercriminals hold a operating system (usually a computer) hostage and then demands payment to restore access.
An example of this occurred when hackers were able to exploit a vulnerability in the company website of a construction services provider. The hackers were able to carryout a ransomware attack and encrypt the companies’ files and demand a ransom payment before access would be restored.
Entry points for cyber-attacks in construction
Here are a few of the tools you might be using day-to-day, and how they could be affected by a cyber-attack:
Raise the Roof of your Cyber Resilience
Once you’ve nailed the basics, it may seem like time to move on.
Unfortunately, online attackers are incredibly agile and can adapt quickly to overcome security protections, so your cyber security strategy will need to continuously evolve to keep up with the ever-changing risks.
Thankfully the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands is here to make sure you’re on the right path and offers a FREE core membership that gives you access to a range of free resources, toolkits, tips and support.
Alternatively, talk to us directly and let's lay the groundwork for your cyber security today.
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