Why Cloud Security Makes All The Difference

Every year, cybercrime in Canada causes $3 billion in losses. Unfortunately, the fact that  cybercrime is a common issue deters some newcomers away from embracing the utility the cloud has to offer. The cloud’s constant evolution and enabling features makes it a staple in the modern tech industry. The cybercrime numbers don’t lie, but neither do the cloud professionals. The experts are here to explain that with proper cloud security and protection consumers and businesses can take full advantage of the cloud with complete ease of mind.

According to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the United States government, cyber criminals are targeting consumers from typical households. They report that 1 in 3 homes contain a computer which has been infected with malicious software. This has led to the unfortunate fact that 47% of adult Americans have had their personal information exposed. On a global scale the average person has lost $358 and 21 hours of their free time annually to dealing with criminal activity. Of course, with the recent exposure, public awareness on this topic has significantly improved. As such, consumers are now turning to reputable companies who prioritize things like cloud security to ensure they will remain protected.

These numbers set the scene for the situation which many North American businesses have had to face. Statistics Canada reports that one-fifth of Canadian businesses were impacted by cyber security instances in 2021. These events include the exploitation of a business’ digital infrastructure, threatening the privacy and security of their customers’ personal information, financial loss, and reputational damages. Overall, one-in-ten businesses were directly impacted by ransomware, although fewer (18%) actually made ransom payments. However, for more than one-third (39%) of the attacks, there was no clear motive. If you’re convinced that cybercriminals are focused solely on large businesses, think again. 16% of small businesses (under 50 employees) and 25% of medium businesses (to to 249 employees) endured these security threats, as opposed to 37% of large businesses (above 250 employees).

Of course, how well-prepared a business is to deal with cybersecurity threats—coupled with their response to an intrusion, disaster recovery, and transparency with their customers—makes all the difference. Canadian businesses spent over $10 billion on improving their cybersecurity in 2021. The average downtime, also recorded by Statistics Canada, is 36 hours. However this doesn’t speak to the damaged infrastructure, stolen data, tarnished reputation, or financial losses. It isn’t just the cloud professionals telling you to invest in cloud security, but also the victims of cybercriminals. The truth is that, “Impacted businesses spend more to prevent and detect cyber security incidents.” With the reliance on digital enterprise resource planning software (ERP), it is essential for businesses to implement the most foolproof policies and procedures in order to mitigate risks.

Lastly, one-in-ten businesses reported their cybersecurity incident to the police. This is largely because reaching out to the authorities is often a last resort. Rather, hiring third party information technology (IT) consultants is the more popular option. Keeping a security breach internal is almost always more desirable. That way, regardless of the robustness of one’s response to said security breach, it is not publicly criticized.

All is well then for Canadian businesses. Actually, not exactly. Bill C-26, “an act respecting cybersecurity”, was tabled on June 14, 2022, and introduces the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act (CCSPA) to support Canadian telecommunication security regulations. If this bill successfully completes the legislative process to become law, it will make reporting cybersecurity incidents to government authorities mandatory. Whether or not this happens, the idea is that steps are being taken to establish a connection between the private sector and the government so that the full magnitude of cyber crimes can be realized. This will also ensure that businesses are held fully accountable for their cybersecurity practices, preventative measures, and responses to threats.

Now, more than ever, it is critical that customers are familiar with the cloud environment and associate themselves with providers which share similar values. Ignorance is too costly. Searching for experienced professionals and establishing sound cloud security for your business makes all the difference. Cloud Metric offers managed cloud services, specializing in security and support, and providing full transparency to customers. Whether you’re interested in migrating to the cloud, overhauling your current cloud deployment, or simply interested in a new host, reach out to us today to have a conversation about what Cloud Metric can do for your business.