It is everywhere, isn’t it?
The negative news feeds, the talks about inflations and the delicate skirting around the term – Recession. You may be wondering why we are adding to the discussion, but during a recession, or a downturn in the economy, there is a knee-jerk reaction to cut spending and stop spending money in as many places as possible.
At Core to Cloud, we want to discuss why cyber security spending and focus should not take a back seat during these periods, even though without an in-depth understanding of your cyber security impacts it may seem like an easy slash within your budget.
What’s a more significant threat - cybercrime or a recession?
Both cybercrime and recession are significant threats, but they pose different types of risks and impacts to businesses.
A recession is an economic downturn that can affect many aspects of people's lives, including their employment, income, savings, and investments. It can lead to widespread job losses, financial hardship, and social disruption. The consequences of a recession can be severe and long-lasting, affecting both individuals and entire economies.
Cybercrime, on the other hand, refers to criminal activity that involves the use of technology and the internet. It can take many forms, including hacking, malware, phishing, identity theft, and ransomware. Cybercrime can result in financial losses, data breaches, and reputational damage for individuals and organisations.
The interesting aspect is that due to a recession not only do businesses cut their spending on areas, such as their cyber security, but it also increases the amount of cybercrime that happens.
How does cyber crime and a recession intersect?
Let’s look at the cold, hard facts. During an economic downturn, many businesses may cut back on their budgets for cybersecurity, reducing their ability to protect themselves against cyber threats. This can make them more vulnerable to attacks, leading to an increase in cybercrime. Additionally, companies may delay or cancel investments in new technology or system upgrades, making them more vulnerable to cyber threats.
As more people work from home or remotely during a recession, there may be an increased reliance on technology and a greater need for digital communication and collaboration tools. This can create new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities in these systems and gain access to sensitive information.
A recession can also lead to increased stress and desperation, which can drive individuals to engage in criminal activity, including cybercrime. This may include increased instances of phishing scams, identity theft, or other types of online fraud.
Don’t just take our word for it though! Check out these statistics:
- In a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the authors found that there was a strong correlation between economic growth and cybercrime rates. Specifically, they found that as economic growth slowed, cybercrime rates tended to increase.
- In a survey conducted by Accenture, 64% of organisations reported an increase in cyber-attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a global recession.
- The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) reported that in 2020, it received a record number of complaints related to cybercrime, with reported losses totalling over £3.5bn (a lot of money in our books)
The recession’s real side-kick
When you remove spending on something as integral as cyber security or stop innovating to ensure the safety of your organisations you open yourself up to costly and devastating
attacks and breaches. Saving money now may seem like a tempting option, but the financial and reputational damage of a data breach should be protected against.
As cyber threats continue to evolve, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and persistent, and you need to stay ahead of the game; with our help of course 😉
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