In recent years, cyber incidents have increased. With the pandemic and telecommuting as the norm, companies' vulnerabilities have been exposed.
However, organisations still do not visualise information security management as part of their structure: in Uruguay, 45% of companies lack a specialised cybersecurity area, and they tend to react after suffering serious incidents.
What is information security?
By information security we mean the set of preventive and reactive measures that help to preserve the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and data, regardless of their format.
If information security is not properly managed, with structures, budget, technology and human resources, the losses can be enormous. It is estimated that in 2020 these attacks cost organisations around the world close to $20 trillion. This is almost 75% higher than in 2019.
In Uruguay, each severe or very severe incident is estimated to cost around USD 40,000 in operational expenses to remediate. In 2018 alone, more than 40 incidents of high or very high severity were detected, totalling USD 2 million.
No one is spared from cyber-attacks
Contrary to what one might think, cyber-attacks are not limited to financial or banking institutions, but affect companies in all sectors. The most affected sectors worldwide are health and public services, although they differ from region to region.
In Latin America, for example, communications companies and manufacturing are the hardest hit, followed by retail and finance. In Europe, the main sector affected is utilities, while in Asia it is insurance companies and legal consultancies.
Cisco appoints us as local partner with a focus on information security
Cisco, a world leader in IT and networks, bets on Isbel as a key partner for the development of cybersecurity in Uruguay. In recent months, we have been working together with the brand through training and certification programmes with the aim of helping organisations to strengthen the security of their computer systems and, above all, to protect them against any threat.
Learn more about our partnership with Cisco here.
By:
Alejandro Draper, Product Line Manager Networking & Security.
Alejandro is a telecommunications engineer and computer security expert.
