- Home
- About Us & Project Introduction
- What Are "Cyber Security" and "Cyber Attack"?
- Why Does Cyber Security Matter?
- International and Local Cooperation on Cyber Attacks
- Simple Steps Towards Enhanced Cyber Security
- Educating the Public
- Video Reviews & Useful Resources
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgements
Economic
Today’s businesses companies are very reliant on the Internet for everyday functioning, trade and storing their important documents. This comes at a cost because the indirect connection of commercial data to the Internet exposes those important data for possible espionage by hackers. Those hackers are usually hired by third parties who are either just malignant organisations or business rivals. For example, in 2008, various US oil companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips were hit by espionage cyberattacks. Hence, without cyber security measures, commercial secrets, documentation, financial records etc. can be easily stolen by third parties and this lost of intellectual data can incur great economic losses and can put the company at a disadvantage in competition.
In addition, it is important for businesses to constantly improve their cyber security measures because they have online services and hence any disruptions to their connection with the Internet servers can cut off their services from the consumers. This temporary shut-down of servers can cost millions of dollars for businesses in which every second is money. According to the software firm McAfee, on average corporations lose over $6.3 million a day when there websites are down because of cyber attacks. Therefore, it is important for businesses to keep their cyber security measures up to date to prevent economic losses from malicious cyber attacks.
Lastly, businesses store lots of their consumers' personal information in its data bank which includes ID, passwords, email addresses, bank account number and home addresses. The number of the victims are huge (25 million game customers became victim of the cyber attack towards Sony in 2011 and their personal information was leaked.). Hence, once a hacker can get access to the pool of the consumers’ personal information, he/she can use the information to withdraw money from the consumers or for other malignant purposes. As for the businesses, it will lose consumer confidence and hence economic losses. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to secure their computers so as to prevent such data leaks.
Quick Reference
Rubin, C. (2010, January 29). The high cost of cyber attacks. The Inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/01/reports-warns-of-growing-cyberattack-threat.html
Clayton, M. (2010, January 25). US oil industry hit by cyberattacks: Was China involved? The Christian Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0125/US-oil-industry-hit-by-cyberattacks-Was-China-involved
Sony says 25m more users hit in second cyber attack (2011, May 3). The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/sony/8489147/Sony-says-25m-more-users-hit-in-second-cyber-attack.html
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In addition, it is important for businesses to constantly improve their cyber security measures because they have online services and hence any disruptions to their connection with the Internet servers can cut off their services from the consumers. This temporary shut-down of servers can cost millions of dollars for businesses in which every second is money. According to the software firm McAfee, on average corporations lose over $6.3 million a day when there websites are down because of cyber attacks. Therefore, it is important for businesses to keep their cyber security measures up to date to prevent economic losses from malicious cyber attacks.
Lastly, businesses store lots of their consumers' personal information in its data bank which includes ID, passwords, email addresses, bank account number and home addresses. The number of the victims are huge (25 million game customers became victim of the cyber attack towards Sony in 2011 and their personal information was leaked.). Hence, once a hacker can get access to the pool of the consumers’ personal information, he/she can use the information to withdraw money from the consumers or for other malignant purposes. As for the businesses, it will lose consumer confidence and hence economic losses. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to secure their computers so as to prevent such data leaks.
Quick Reference
Rubin, C. (2010, January 29). The high cost of cyber attacks. The Inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/01/reports-warns-of-growing-cyberattack-threat.html
Clayton, M. (2010, January 25). US oil industry hit by cyberattacks: Was China involved? The Christian Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0125/US-oil-industry-hit-by-cyberattacks-Was-China-involved
Sony says 25m more users hit in second cyber attack (2011, May 3). The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/sony/8489147/Sony-says-25m-more-users-hit-in-second-cyber-attack.html
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