"Four of the Top Five Sources of Cyber Attacks Globally, List Hong Kong Among their Top Targets"
HK’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) reports security-related incidents jumped 55% from 2017 to 2018.
Still fresh in the minds of many locals, where 9.4 million passengers' Personal Identifiable Information (names, nationalities, dates of birth, identity card numbers and historical travel details) were compromised, the “next big one’ is inevitable. Projections for 2019 already predict more security incidents this year than in the past.
“Data” is the new “gold”. Sophisticated, malicious bad actors are increasingly using employees personal data to access organizations' sensitive data and the consequences of cybersecurity breaches are dire.
Global Implications, Local Perspectives
Equifax recently became the first company to have its outlook downgraded by Moody’s from a cyber attack.
The $690 million charge for the breach was a contributing factor. Both clients and shareholders internationally are experiencing the dire need to enhance their organization’s cybersecurity resiliency.
Given the magnitude and implications globally, locally, I’m seeing an increase in organizations ranging from startups to mid-market companies proactively seeking security assessments to measure their current maturity levels.
Reasons for higher levels of self scrutiny are due to foreseeable increases in regulations such as with GDPR and China’s Cybersecurity Laws, Both clients and shareholders warmly welcome the reassurance their resources/investments are taking precautions to mitigate from both reputational and financial losses.
Cybersecurity Demand
82% of Hong Kong CIOs say they will face more security threats in the next few years due to a shortage of IT security talent.
In addition to the talent deficit another problem is the cost. Seasoned Cyber Security experts’ salaries cost USD 30,000 per month for only one role. For many organizations locally, the price point is too aggressive to justify for only one-hire and are actively looking for alternatives.
Start within your organization by asking
- Every 14 seconds, a new business falls victim to attacks. Where are your organization’s gaps and how resilient is your organization?
- By 2020, more than 80% of security incidents will be due to human errors. What policies, standards, baselines, guidelines, procedures are in place in one’s organization to better mitigate from financial and reputational losses?
Crisis No More:
Horangi Cybersecurity gives organizations access to an on-demand experienced and practical CyberOps team of CREST certified consultants who operate from 7 countries. Besides helping our customers demonstrate compliance to recognized industry and privacy regulations and frameworks, Horangi can help organizations become proactive in their security, with services like a vCISO for more strategic level functions to more tactical services such as vulnerability assessment, [penetration testing](/solutions/penetration-testing/), incident preparedness and much more.
Contact:
For any cybersecurity-related conversations or speaking engagements. I can be reached on [email protected]
Alternatively, you can meet the Hong Kong team at the upcoming AWS Summit on June 28th.
