The Inevitable Cyber Breach: It’s Not a Question of “If” Anymore

It’s time to face reality. Breaches are inevitable.

In today’s interconnected world, the traditional notion of a network perimeter has been rendered obsolete. Work is no longer confined to the walls of an office; it happens everywhere. Once contained within physical boundaries, data traverses the globe, moving seamlessly between offices, cloud servers, and the smartphones in our pockets.

Cybercriminals with advanced tools and tactics continuously probe for vulnerabilities in networks, applications, and systems. Moreover, the expanding attack surface created by the proliferation of interconnected devices and cloud services presents many entry points for malicious actors to exploit. As a result, even the most fortified defenses can be breached, leaving organizations vulnerable to potentially devastating consequences.

Accepting the inevitability of cyber breaches does not signify defeat but instead underscores the need for a proactive and adaptive approach to cybersecurity. Organizations must shift their mindset from a purely defensive stance to one that emphasizes resilience and rapid response. This entails investing in robust security measures, implementing comprehensive incident response plans, and conducting regular cybersecurity training and drills. By acknowledging the inevitability of breaches and preparing accordingly, organizations can minimize the impact of cyber incidents and enhance their ability to recover swiftly and effectively.

The Likelihood of a Breach

The chances of an incident are undeniably on the rise. A few data points, courtesy of NinjaOne:

• As of 2022, 71% of organizations reported being victimized by at least one ransomware attack.
• 79% of companies with data stored in the cloud have experienced at least one cloud breach since 2020.

Several factors contribute to the rising threat of cyber breaches. First is the relentless innovation and adaptation of cybercriminals who continually develop new tactics and techniques to exploit vulnerabilities. Additionally, trends like cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things), and remote work expand the attack surface and provide more opportunities for malicious actors to infiltrate networks. Whether it’s financial institutions, healthcare providers, government agencies, or large corporations, virtually every sector faces the risk of cyber breaches that can result in data theft, financial losses, reputational damage, and even disruption of essential services.

As stated before, it’s difficult to quantify the exact likelihood of a cyber breach, but it’s essential for organizations to remain vigilant, invest in robust cybersecurity measures, and stay informed about emerging threats to mitigate any risk effectively.

This, however, only covers one aspect of the cyber risk conversation. We’ve only brushed over the likelihood of breaches considering current threats. What about the future?

The Future of Cyber Breaches: Quantum Computing

As the current threat landscape grows, it is catching organizations flat-footed, so the only way to win the fight against cybercrime is to skate to where the puck is going (please excuse the hockey analogy).

The emergence of quantum computing brings both unprecedented opportunities and profound challenges to the field of cybersecurity. While quantum computing promises exponentially faster processing speeds and revolutionary breakthroughs across industries, it poses significant risks to traditional cryptographic methods.

With their ability to perform complex calculations at an accelerated pace, Quantum computers could, theoretically, break widely used encryption standards, such as RSA and ChaCha20-128, within a fraction of the time it would take traditional computers. Sensitive

Furthermore, the advent of quantum computing introduces new vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors. Quantum computers leverage principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform computations, which can fundamentally alter the landscape of cybersecurity. For instance, quantum algorithms, like Shor’s algorithm, have the capability to efficiently factor large integers and solve discrete logarithmic problems―tasks that form the basis of many cryptographic protocols. As a result, sensitive data encrypted using traditional cryptographic methods could be susceptible to decryption by quantum-powered adversaries, posing a significant risk to confidentiality, integrity, and privacy in the digital realm.

Encryption standards, such as AES-256, are said to be, theoretically, resistant to quantum computing due to their variably expanding key sizes. However, implementation of AES-256 is a massive challenge because it requires such heavy computational demands that it would bring productivity to a screeching halt. This precisely is why AES-256 is not already implemented in every SQL database on the planet.

 “Q-Day,”  as the advent of quantum computing is known, could come as soon as 2025. Will we be ready?Just how far away is a future such as this? Well, some predict that this day, known as “Q-Day”, could come as soon as 2025. The question is whether or not we are all ready for it.

What Can Be Done to Mitigate Current and Future Cyber Risks?

To ensure your business doesn’t become the next breach statistic, strengthening your cyber defenses is crucial. This includes:

1. Continue regular audits of your security infrastructure and permissions.
2. Review security regulations governing your country, region, province, or state.
3. Adopt a cybersecurity liability insurance policy and implement the required security controls.
4. Invest in new cybersecurity strategies and technologies, such as zero trust, recovery and remediation, and post-quantum encryption standards.

CyberProtonics’, quantum-resistant cryptosystem provides data breach immunity by making breached data unusable. It’s a lightweight solution that easily integrates into existing security stacks to protect from the main office to the home office, and across all devices, while preparing you for the quantum future. Get more information here.