Cyber security threat is a business, not just IT, risk

ACCORDING to a global study done by PwC, in conjunction with CIO and CSO magazines, there were 117,339 cyber attacks per day around the world last year. That's a staggering number and translates to 42.8 million attacks in 2013. Moreover, this number refers to only the attacks that have been identified and does not take into consideration the ones that were not traced.

These numbers tie into an important point made by S Iswaran, Second Minister for Trade and Industry, at the recent 2014 National Security Conference here. He noted that cyber security is a national security imperative that we need to recognise and be adequately prepared for.

The world has long passed the phase in which cyber attacks were the handiwork of lone hackers looking for some instant fame and glory. Today's attacks are well-coordinated and meticulously planned. The PwC report mentioned that high profile attacks by nation-states, organised crime and (business) competitors are the fastest-growing cyber threats. As Mr Iswaran, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs, said, cyber criminals have become more organised with the ability to carry out attacks more quickly and on a larger scale.