Exploitable vulnerabilities can have a devastating impact on businesses, leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory fines. In addition to the direct costs of remediation and recovery, organizations may face indirect costs associated with the disruption of business operations, reduced customer confidence, and customer churn. With the rise of cyber threats, organizations must be aware of potential risks and take steps to protect themselves. In this article, we will discuss the business impact of exploitable vulnerabilities and how organizations can better protect themselves.
Data security is essential for businesses in all industries. As technology advances, so do the risks associated with cybersecurity. Exploitable vulnerabilities are weaknesses in a system that attackers can use to gain access to data or systems.
What are Exploitable Vulnerabilities
When it comes to the security of a business, the protection of its digital data and assets should never be underestimated. Exploitable vulnerabilities, or software weaknesses and flaws, are increasingly posing a grave threat to the safety of businesses around the world. If left unaddressed, these weaknesses can easily be exploited by malicious actors, leading to a wide range of costly consequences.
Exploitable vulnerabilities are defined as software or hardware flaws that can be exploited by a malicious actor. The attacker can use these flaws to gain access to sensitive networks, data, and systems. Exploitable vulnerabilities can be used to launch a variety of attacks, including denial of service, data theft, malware injection, and even remote control of systems. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), catalogues over 900 Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV). In the past year alone, 557 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) were added to their extensive catalogue.
The Real Impact of Exploitable Vulnerabilities
These days, almost every company is bringing its operations online, which means that there is an increased risk of cyberattacks and exploitation of vulnerabilities in digital systems. The business impact of exploitable vulnerabilities can be devastating and can put organizations in a precarious financial situation.
The impact of an exploit on a business depends on the type of vulnerability that was exploited. These vulnerabilities can come from both internal and external sources and can have a wide range of impacts on a business. According to a report, titled “Ransomware Spotlight Report 2023”, from Cyber Security Works, Ivanti, Cyware, and Securin, 76% of the current vulnerabilities exploited by ransomware groups were discovered between 2010 and 2019.
Direct Costs of Exploitable Vulnerabilities
APAC’s vulnerability to cyberattacks is a growing concern for CISOs. In India alone, data breaches exposed 2.29 billion records in 2022. It is important to understand the direct costs of these vulnerabilities to ensure that your business is taking the necessary steps to protect itself from costly attacks. Exploitable vulnerabilities can cause direct financial losses in the form of lost data, decreased productivity, and more. According to IBM, the total cost of a data breach has reached an all-time high averaging USD 4.35 million in 2022. Another report by Cybersecurity Ventures expects global cybercrime costs to reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. These direct costs include expenses such as incident investigation and response, notification of affected individuals, legal fees, and regulatory fines. The longer it takes to detect and contain a breach, the higher the costs.
Indirect Costs of Exploitable Vulnerabilities
While the direct costs of data breaches and other security issues is a quantifiable number, the indirect costs of exploitable vulnerabilities can be just as damaging. The indirect costs of exploitable vulnerabilities can include lost customer trust, declining customer loyalty, damage to brand and reputation, and a decreased customer base. When customers know that your business is vulnerable to exploitation, they may decide to switch to another service provider that is better secured and more reliable. In some cases, customers may even take legal action against your business if they feel their data has been compromised due to exploitable vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the hidden costs of exploitability can also be very high in terms of productivity loss. When your business is under attack, the employees that are needed to address the attack are losing time from their normal duties. This can include anyone from IT personnel to employees who are personally affected by the attack. The longer an attack lasts, the more labor costs will increase.
How To Protect Your Business
Protecting your business from exploitable vulnerabilities is necessary to ensure your safety and prosperity. There are three basic steps that you can take to protect yourself from exploitable vulnerabilities.
Step 1: Perform an in-depth vulnerability assessment
n evaluation of your company’s vulnerability will reveal whether or not it faces any potential dangers. If you want to safeguard your company from potential security breaches and exploits, a vulnerability assessment is your best bet. Protecting their infrastructure is as simple as making vulnerability assessment and correction a continuous process at the enterprise level. This method can strengthen system security, lessen the likelihood of attacks, and cut down on the price of fixing any damage.
Step 2: Implement security controls
Once you have determined which vulnerabilities your business has, you can create security controls to mitigate those vulnerabilities. Security controls can include firewalls, authentication systems, access control systems, etc.
Step 3: Invest in security monitoring tools
The last step in protecting your business from exploitable vulnerabilities is security monitoring. During security monitoring, your security team will check to make sure that the security controls in place are working properly. If an attack occurs, security monitoring can help your business get a handle on the situation quickly and limit the damage.
Conclusion
Exploitable vulnerabilities are a dangerous threat to the safety and prosperity of your business. These vulnerabilities can be difficult to protect against because attackers can use them subtly. The hidden costs of exploitable vulnerabilities are also unusual and hard to identify. Once an exploit occurs, the costs can quickly multiply as you struggle to contain the damage. The best way to protect your business is by taking the three steps of vulnerability assessment, security controls, and security monitoring.
If your business is looking for cybersecurity experts and tools, look no further than iValue Infosolutions. Our team of experts can help you assess your vulnerabilities and implement the necessary security controls to protect your business from exploitable vulnerabilities. Don’t wait until it is too late, contact us today to learn more about how we can help safeguard your business.
(This article is written by Pranav Bhayani, Head – Pre Sales, iValue InfoSolutions, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
