Who you gonna call? Why we need a cyber emergency service

i WHO YOU GONNA CALL? WHY WE NEED A CYBER EMERGENCY SERVICE 3 SMEs need protecting more than ever. The volume and viciousness of cyberattacks and data breaches means there is an increasing need for an emergency service, a method of recovery to isolate problems, fix them and get the business up and running as quickly as possible. Being able to respond and remediate incidents quickly is essential. Resilience is key… i WHO YOU GONNA CALL? WHY WE NEED A CYBER EMERGENCY SERVICE 4 Introduction: Risk and reward I n the Chinese Zodiac, 2019 is the year of the pig, which means luck and wealth. After the almost daily cyberattacks and data breaches of 2018, businesses across Europe could certainly do with some good fortune. However, before we get carried away, it’s worth noting that the last time there was a ‘year of the pig’, it was 2007, the year of the economic crash. The point is that we never quite know what is around the corner. Leaving the prosperity and security of business to lucky mascots and horoscopes is not going to work. Businesses have to prepare for the unexpected, regardless of their size or perceived level of experience in dealing with cybersecurity. “Businesses have to prepare for the unexpected, regardless of their size...” If 2018 proved anything, it’s that everyone and everything is a target. From the Facebook hack that hit three million in Europe, to countless breaches at firms such as Cathay Pacific Airways, MyFitnessPal, Marriott Starwood Hotels and Quora, businesses are vulnerable and the threat is indiscriminate. It’s costly too. According to Bitkom, cybercrime is costing German manufacturers $50bn with SMEs worst hit. The average cost of a data breach is around $3.86m to a business and GDPR compliance could push this figure upwards, as the extent of breaches are realised more fully. Interestingly, a report last year claimed that 78 percent of people would avoid a company if it suffered from a data breach. Double whammy.  ?