Every Organisation is Vulnerable to Hacking. Learn How Best to Protect Your Business

July 19, 2019 | Activate Learning | 2 min read
Every Organisation is Vulnerable to Hacking. Learn How Best to Protect Your Business

While typically, the news reports only on the high-profile hacking cases, the reality is every company no matter the size is a target. Globally, every 39 seconds, there is a hacker attack. Hackers create over 300,000 new pieces of malware daily. Every single day someone somewhere is sitting at their computer working out a way to infiltrate and wreak havoc to your IT system. In the UK, reports show that 55% of companies faced an attack in 2019, up from 40% in 2018 and average losses from breaches also soared from $229,000 (£176,000) to $369,000 (£298,00), an increase of 61%.

The damage to business is immense. Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminium producer, is still recovering after hackers took 22,000 computers offline at 170 different sites around the world. Norsk Hydro refused to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers and has spent £45m trying to restore its business. British Airways is facing a record fine of £183m for last year's breach of its security systems. According to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), users of British Airways' website were diverted to a fraudulent site. Through this malicious site, the attackers harvested the details of about 500,000 customers.

Why hacking is more than just a security issue

Part of the challenge in dealing with hackers is that the problem is twofold. Not only must companies work to keep abreast of all the current threats, especially since they change daily, they also have to overcome the ongoing dearth of skilled security professionals.

In the fight against cyberattacks, Robert Schifreen is uniquely qualified. A former hacker - Schifreen was the first individual in the world to be arrested and tried by a jury in connection with computer hacking - he now owns and runs SecuritySmart, which provides IT security awareness training to organisations. Skillsoft is teaming up with Robert to offer customers a comprehensive hacker training solution that includes webinars, bootcamps, Skillsoft Aspire, Virtual Lab Tech, whitepapers, and of course Skillsoft’s extensive Security Training course catalogue that includes Microsoft Security Fundamentals, CISSP, and OWASP.


Christopher Sly is a Solution Principal, Technology & Developer and Transformation at Skillsoft EMEA.