Demonstrating the increasing frequency of cyber-attacks, Tesco experienced a total outage of their website and mobile app in October. Amongst the 3 most popular supermarkets in the UK, Tesco’s online services crashed after a deliberate hack, causing disruption for a huge number of consumers.
Due to the outage, when their services were back up, they had to employ a temporary “virtual waiting room” to manage the customers that were trying to place orders. This placed more pressure on the system and their staff, leading to customers struggling to place orders or having to wait for extended periods.
The lack of information that Tesco supplied to their customers during the outage caused frustration as well, with many cancelling orders or requesting refunds.
This situation perfectly demonstrates the reputational damage that a business can experience when affected by a severe outage. The need for strong cyber security is becoming more and more evident every year, and an outage like this will show many businesses, large and small, that they need to rethink their approach.
A growing problem for all organisations
The threat of disastrous cyber-attacks continues to grow for all organisations. The days of being able to invest in a cheap cyber security solution or forego it entirely are over.
For Tesco, this isn’t the first time they’ve experienced a cyber-attack of this magnitude. In 2016, they were fined approximately £16.4m for a data breach. It was also noted at the time that this breach was avoidable, leading to questions being raised over Tesco’s cyber security policies and priorities.
This story isn’t unique to Tesco, though. Other corporate giants have experienced numerous data breaches and paid out eye-watering fines. Often, these fines are so high due to investigations highlighting their inferior and under-funded cyber security.
It’s not just large, multi-national organisations that must be careful. SMEs are also a target for cyber-attacks, including malicious malware and ransomware. In 2021 and beyond, no organisations can afford to be lackadaisical in their approach to cyber security.
What are the solutions?
For smaller organisations, it’s important to conduct a thorough cyber security review. A review, conducted by a cyber security expert, will highlight the areas in your business that need to be improved. As well as identifying any vulnerabilities in existing IT systems, it will educate the business on the threats that are particularly dangerous for them, based on their current cyber security practices.
Once the organisation is aware of what needs to be done, it can start making positive, ongoing changes. These changes will be different for every business, and it’s important that any cyber security solution is tailored to its unique requirements.
Depending on the nature of the business, regular penetration testing might be required to ensure that sensitive data and systems are secure. A threat detection and incident response solution might also be needed, especially if the organisation deals with large amounts of web traffic or has multiple layers of sensitive hardware.
Regardless of the specific needs of each business, it’s important to consult with a cyber security expert and find out what needs to be done. No business is exempt from cyber-attacks, so learning from mistakes made by others is key. Don’t wait until an attack happens to make changes, be proactive and start now.
If you’re interested in discussing your business’ cyber security needs, get in touch with us today.
