Which Industries Are Most Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks in 2021?

Any organisation, whether large government corporation, a small enterprise, an individual running a small business, or even the general web user, are vulnerable to cyber attacks. With the rise in cyber crime in 2020, it is vital that ALL companies enable the best preventative measures they can.

That being said, there will always be organisations more vulnerable to cyber attacks, simply because the nature of their business and the amount of data they hold. Here is a list of the most vulnerable sectors to cyber attacks.

Healthcare

According to Black Book Market Research in 2019, the cost of data breaches within the healthcare industry cost around $4 billion US dollars. The healthcare industry continues to be one of the most vulnerable to cyber attacks and often the healthcare staff are not fully aware of cyber security measures.

The healthcare sector stores millions of medical records electronically, including personal customer details and financial data. Records will contain, names, addresses, medical history, national identity numbers and billing information. This of course, is a magnet for cyber criminals. Worryingly, there has been an increase in COVID-19 related attacks throughout the pandemic. Scams include fake apps or websites and pandemic-related phishing emails.

IT

Man in the middle attacks can be used to target IT companies and cloud service providers, which can store personal information of customers ad staff. Hackers can intercept communications, gaining access to the network. From here, they are able to impersonate suppliers, and get their hands-on sensitive customer information.

Finance

Financial organisations are always going to be at risk due to the large amount of sensitive data they hold, such as customer bank account and credit card details. A Clearswift report in the UK in 2019, said that over 70% of financial organisations had been the victim of a cyber attack. Financial institutions face threat of targeted attacks from organised crime and state-sponsored actors. Employing advanced cyber security protection, it vital for banks, and other financial organisations. They need to stay up to date with payment methods and new technologies to stay secure.

Construction

With sensitive data such as blueprints, financial information, and personally identifiable information (PII) being stored in company systems, construction companies can be a target for ransomware and malware attacks. If all this information is available and stored on the same system, hackers can easily gain access to a wealth of private information to be used for a ransom.

SME’s

Small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) often underestimate the need for cyber security. This lack of knowledge, expertise, or willingness to invest in cyber protection can leave enterprises vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Smaller companies may not realise the risks, they may not think a cyber attack will happen to them or they may not have the budget or large teams to control cyber security. Hackers are drawn to SME’s as it is often easier for them to gain access to their systems, which can still hold a large amount of customer data and personal information.

HR

HR and recruitment companies can be vulnerable to cyber attacks because of the customer data they hold. HR systems can often hold details such as names, addresses, employee bank details, and other sensitive information. They can use this information to steal money through payroll fraud or gain customer credentials through a recruitment scam. HR sectors can be at risk of a ransomware attack if the hackers encrypt customer and employee personal information.

Government

Local, state, and federal governments can be particularly vulnerable to cyber threats because they are high profile, holding huge databases of information. Large government organisations are often targeted by foreign state-sponsored actors, as well as hacktivists looking to make a statement or release company secrets. Cyber criminals are also drawn to the amount of personal information there is to be gained by hacking into a government entity.

Education

Schools and universities store many types of personal information of staff and students, such as addresses, phone numbers, financial details, enrolment data and so on. University research sectors can also be vulnerable to cyber attacks due to the current research data they store. A constant turnover of students can make it hard to ensure good password measures and may make the education sector prone to phishing attacks.

At Cube Cyber, we have helped companies from a variety of different sectors, to implement an advanced and continued cyber security plan. We can help you to see where the vulnerabilities lie in your organisation and find practical security measures to help protect you from advanced cyber threats.

To find out more about how we can help your organisation, at a cost-effective price, then talk to one of our experts today. We are here to help you.