What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity refers to any technologies, practices and policies for preventing cyberattacks or mitigating their impact. Cybersecurity aims to protect computer systems, applications, devices, data, financial assets and people against ransomware and other malware, phishing scams, data theft, and other cyber threats.(IBM)

Why is it important?

Cybersecurity is important because cyberattacks and cybercrime have the power to disrupt, damage or destroy businesses, communities and lives. Successful cyberattacks lead to identity theft, personal and corporate extortion, loss of sensitive information and business-critical data, temporary business outages, lost business and lost customers and, in some cases, business closures. Cyberattacks have an enormous and growing impact on businesses and the economy. By one estimate, cybercrime will cost the world economy USD 10.5 trillion per year by 2025.

The cost of cyberattacks continues to rise as cybercriminals become more sophisticated. The average cost of a data breach jumped to USD 4.88 million from USD 4.45 million in 2023—a 10% spike and the highest increase since the pandemic. Business losses (revenue loss due to system downtime, lost customers and reputational damage) and post-breach response costs (costs to set up call centers and credit monitoring services for affected customers or to pay regulatory fines), rose nearly 11% over the previous year. (IBM)