You can’t stop cyber attacks but you can reduce the impact
Some of the largest companies and organizations in the world have been targeted by cyber attacks including the military and government agencies, so can the rest of us really stop them? No says James Lewis of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. The cyber security expert says that these attacks are often well resourced and told the BBC that it is “simply not possible to beat these hackers.” What businesses can do though is to do as much as possible to reduce the effect that attacks have. Robust defenses are still crucial as most hackers will be deterred if they struggle to breach your network, however if they are determined they will likely succeed. Once they are inside the network though Lewis says many companies have weak defenses that allow hackers a free reign to access information. Rick Holland from Forrester Research agrees and says that defenses should act like a ship’s bulkhead that can be closed if it’s breached.
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ACE warns small businesses of increased fraud risk
Small businesses are at increased risk of fraud in the first quarter of the year according to the ACE Group. With bank balances under pressure from excessive spending over the holidays there is an uptick of fraud activity and smaller business can be at greater risk due to less stringent auditing processes. The company says that some simple procedures will help smaller businesses combat fraud. These include; reviewing or rotating who has responsibility for authorising payments; have a separation between those responsible for purchase authorizations and the payment of invoices; implement thorough background checks of all those involved in financial controls; and introduce random audits.
Audit committees see higher risks for businesses
A survey of audit committees around the world said economic and political uncertainty and volatility, regulatory compliance, and operational risk pose the greatest challenges for companies in the year ahead. The KPMG report also reinforces a finding from last year that it is increasingly hard for auditors to oversee major risks as well as financial reporting. Three-quarters of respondents say that their workload takes more time than before and many said that they have at least some responsibility for more than finances with cyber risk a growing area that they are being tasked with. Asked which issues will require more attention in 2015, survey respondents cited cyber security and the pace of technology change, risk management and operational risk, and regulatory compliance.
