Securing Your Business: The Importance of Industry-Specific Cybersecurity Measures

Published on : 03 Apr 2023


The Importance of Industry-Specific Cybersecurity Measures

As the world has evolved in significant ways over the past several decades, so have the threats that businesses face daily evolved. In particular, cybercrime has grown into a nefarious force that harms businesses and causes irreparable damage. From holding information ransom to stealing private financial information, there is no limit to the damage that cybercriminals can inflict upon your operations.

Thankfully, cybersecurity has also evolved over the years to meet the growing and evolving challenges in the industry. From new technologies to an influx of experienced cybersecurity professionals, there are many ways that business operators can protect the digital assets of their company. One significant method to do this is by engaging in industry-specific cybersecurity measures.

Understanding the value, that taking this approach to cybersecurity can offer will put you in a better position to safeguard your business from threats.

 

Here is the importance of industry-specific cybersecurity measures.

Understanding Which Threats Are Most Common in Your Industry

In each industry, certain cybersecurity threats are more prevalent than others. To truly protect your business from the dangers of cybercrime, it is important to understand what threats are typically the most dangerous to your specific industry. Often, drawing upon data analytics insights can help elucidate which types of cybersecurity threats pose the biggest risks to your business.

In addition to being aware of common threats, it is also important to understand the specific vulnerabilities of your company. Some common industry-specific threats include:

  • Compromised Third-party Vendors in Healthcare

For effective operations and business processes, healthcare institutions typically work with many third-party vendors. This includes businesses such as linen suppliers and medical equipment suppliers, cloud services, etc. Cybercriminals are aware of the access that third-party networks can have to healthcare institution networks, making them the prime target. This being the case, third-party networks getting hacked and giving hackers access to healthcare institution networks has become a substantial threat in healthcare.

  • Phishing in Banking

As the world has evolved, so has the way banks operate. Almost all financial data kept by banks have become digital and, as a result, can be accessed digitally. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have been attempting to exploit this by duping customers into giving their private information through phishing scams. Phishing scams involve cybercriminals posing as someone else, such as a bank employee, to trick victims into downloading malware that gives the hacker access to the victim’s personal information. Nefarious phishing schemes have become one of the most common and notable cybersecurity threats facing banks in recent years.

  • Data Breaches in Cloud Computing

For businesses of all sizes, storing data on the cloud has become a common practice. To do this, businesses typically enlist the services of cloud storage providers. Unfortunately, not all cloud storage providers are secure.

Cybercriminals are aware of the fact that cloud service providers often hold private business information and personal data that are critical to business. For these reasons they frequently seek to breach defenses and gain access to data on the cloud network of various cloud. As this has become a common threat, ensuring that cloud storage providers are engaging in safe practices has become a significant area of focus in business and cloud computing.

Industries with the Greatest Need for Industry-Specific Cybersecurity

Some specific industries are uniquely vulnerable to cyberattacks. This is because they each have specific vulnerabilities that cybercriminals commonly try to exploit. Here are some industries with a significant need for industry-specific cybersecurity measures.

  • Healthcare Industry

Healthcare is an extremely vulnerable industry when it comes to cybersecurity threats. This is because their networks typically house copious amounts of personal information and healthcare data about masses of individuals. To help ensure that patient information is kept safe, the American federal government developed what is called The Health Insurance and Portability Act (HIPAA) which is established as a national standard that all healthcare organizations must adhere to keep patient information safe.

One key aspect of HIPAA is the Privacy Rule, which notes that patient information cannot be shared or used in certain ways without patient consent and also states that healthcare organizations must keep patient information safe by engaging in several key information security practices.

  • Banking and Payment Card Industries

Banking institutions are one of the soft targets and primary victims of cyber crimes. This is because the networks of these firms hold an immense amount of financial and banking information of both individuals and businesses. In addition to this, there is always a threat to the payment card industry with the risk of it being exploited by cybercriminals.

To combat these threats, several payment card companies came together to form the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCS SSC) and created the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). In essence, the PCI DSS is a comprehensive security standard meant to help banks, payment card companies, and consumers stay secure and safe from fraud and cyberattacks.

  • Cloud Computing Industry

The cloud computing industry has exploded over the last decade as this technology has allowed organizations the ability to experience more convenience when it comes to storing, processing, and transmitting data online. Unfortunately, given the large amount of data held in the cloud, cloud computing is an industry constantly being compromised by cybercriminals.

Some common attacks on the cloud computing industry include data breaches, in-house employee threats, and accounts being hijacked. So, to ensure that organizations using the cloud have secured their infrastructure several security best practices, industry standards and regulations have been introduced. Regulations and Standards such as GDPR, CPRA, PCI DSS, etc were developed to address these security issues and call organizations to implement best security practices.

Final Thought

As cybercriminals have evolved in their techniques of committing cybercrimes and become more adept at exploiting vulnerabilities, it has become increasingly important for businesses to upgrade their security standards and technique. This is to stay ahead in the industry and secure business against any potential threat. That said, it is important to note that attempting a one-size-fits-all approach for cybersecurity can leave your business exposed and unprotected in many ways.

Businesses will have to analyze and accordingly build a strong compliance program that meets various industry standards and requirements concerning the security of their business assets. For this, it is important to conduct a thorough audit and review your existing cybersecurity programs and measures to ensure that you are tailoring efforts to your specific business and industry.

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Narendra Sahoo
Narendra Sahoo

Narendra Sahoo (PCI QPA, PCI QSA, PCI SSF ASSESSOR, CISSP, CISA, CRISC, 27001 LA) is the Founder and Director of VISTA InfoSec, a global Information Security Consulting firm, based in the US, Singapore & India. Mr. Sahoo holds more than 25 years of experience in the IT Industry, with expertise in Information Risk Consulting, Assessment, & Compliance services. VISTA InfoSec specializes in Information Security audit, consulting and certification services which include GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, NESA, MAS-TRM, PCI DSS Compliance & Audit, PCI PIN, SOC2 Compliance & Audit, PDPA, PDPB to name a few. The company has for years (since 2004) worked with organizations across the globe to address the Regulatory and Information Security challenges in their industry. VISTA InfoSec has been instrumental in helping top multinational companies achieve compliance and secure their IT infrastructure.