In the 24th annual global CEO Survey done by PwC, the chief executives cited cybersecurity threats as second top risk to business where pandemics and other similar crises was on top. The sudden surge in cyberattacks and their ramifications on businesses has made even CEOs more engaged and strategic in their pursuit of creating a cyber resilient organisation.
The size of cyberthreats can be understood with the help of a few data points:
- Global cybercrime costs will grow by 15% every year and will breach the US$10 trillion mark by 2025.
- Every 2 seconds, an individual or a corporation will face a ransomware attack.
- India accounted for 2% of the global DDoS attacks and the largest DDoS attack size has tripled, growing 297% in 2021 Y-o-Y.
- In 2023, the DDoS protection and mitigation market is projected to grow to US$4.1 billion.
- Ransomware cost the world US$20 billion in 2021 and is expected to rise to US$265 billion by 2031.
- The unique strains of malware surged from less than 10 million in 2010 to more than 130 million in 2020.
- The cost of downtime typically ranges between US$926/minute – US$17,244/minute.
- The average total cost of a data breach increased by 10% to $4.24 million, the highest ever recorded.
The criticality of cybersecurity is such that most organisations now spend a greater share of funds on managing active cyberattacks than on preventive measures. With internet penetration in India at 47-48% and a total of 658.0 million internet users in Jan 2022, it is imperative and critical for any business to secure its foundation – the Internet – on top priority.
In the last two years digitalisation has increased manifold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The global use of services such as digital payments, video conferences, VPNs and other services has grown manifold. As the use of digital tools increases, so does the amount of data created. According to the World Bank estimates, in 2022, the annual total internet traffic will increase by about 50% from 2020 levels, reaching 4.8 zettabytes.
With all this as a backdrop, the first and foremost challenge for businesses is to secure the Internet. The answer to most cybersecurity challenges is a secure Internet through with the applications are accessed and where the data exists. It also mandates CIOs and CISOs to work on adopting a proactive strategy to build a trusted and simplified security framework that has the capability of countering both what is visible and what is invisible.
Telcos Poised to Deliver Cost-effective, Robust Cyber Defence
It’s a growing trend globally where many large-scale cybersecurity companies are forging ties with telecom services providers to deliver bundled solutions along with the core services like broadband Internet. Telcos are most suitable for delivering enterprise-grade cybersecurity along with the core services, especially to the smaller and mid-sized organisations, which do not have large security budgets and have limited skill set. This is nothing else but ‘Security Simplified’. These enterprises, instead of dealing with many companies and increasing the complexity, can deal with the telecom service provider and avail a wholesome cyber defence necessary for most of their security requirements. Not only do telcos have a better understanding of the threat scenarios but also, they are poised in reducing the overall cost of enterprise grade protection through the bundled offerings.
On similar lines, Airtel Business, one of India’s most trusted telecommunications and managed security services providers, is now launching a breakthrough, integrated and cost-effective ‘Secure Internet’ solution with its broadband Internet service. This comes bundled with best-of-breed Unified Threat Management (UTM) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) solutions that gives the first layer of strong protection from all lethal data breaches and cyber threats.
An Exclusive, Trend-setting Launch
DynamicCISO is inviting CISOs, CIOs and senior technology and security decision makers for an exclusive mega virtual launch of “Securing Beyond Internet” by Airtel Business. Join us at this launch where Airtel Business’ leadership team will walk us through the prevailing security threats and showcase how security can be simplified by bringing innovative solutions as part of bundled solutions.