Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks. Also known as information technology (IT) security, cybersecurity measures are designed to combat threats against networked systems and applications, whether those threats originate from inside or outside of an organization.

In 2020, the average cost of a data breach was USD 3.86 million globally, and USD 8.64 million in the United States. These costs include the expenses of discovering and responding to the breach, the cost of downtime and lost revenue, and the long-term reputational damage to a business and its brand. Cybercriminals target customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) — names, addresses, national identification numbers (e.g., Social Security number in the US, fiscal codes in Italy), and credit card information — and then sell these records in underground digital marketplaces. Compromised PII often leads to a loss of customer trust, the imposition of regulatory fines, and even legal action.

Security system complexity, created by disparate technologies and a lack of in-house expertise, can amplify these costs. But organizations with a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, governed by best practices and automated using advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, can fight cyberthreats more effectively and reduce the lifecycle and impact of breaches when they occur.

A strong cybersecurity strategy has layers of protection to defend against cyber crime, including cyber attacks that attempt to access, change, or destroy data; extort money from users or the organization; or aim to disrupt normal business operations. Countermeasures should address:

Critical infrastructure security - Practices for protecting the computer systems, networks, and other assets that society relies upon for national security, economic health, and/or public safety. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a cybersecurity framework to help organizations in this area, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provides additional guidance.

Network security - Security measures for protecting a computer network from intruders, including both wired and wireless (Wi-Fi) connections.

Application security - Processes that help protect applications operating on-premises and in the cloud. Security should be built into applications at the design stage, with considerations for how data is handled, user authentication, etc.

Cloud security - Specifically, true confidential computing that encrypts cloud data at rest (in storage), in motion (as it travels to, from and within the cloud) and in use (during processing) to support customer privacy, business requirements and regulatory compliance standards.

Information security - Data protection measures, such as the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, that secure your most sensitive data from unauthorized access, exposure, or theft.

End-user education - Building security awareness across the organization to strengthen endpoint security. For example, users can be trained to delete suspicious email attachments, avoid using unknown USB devices, etc.

Disaster recovery/business continuity planning - Tools and procedures for responding to unplanned events, such as natural disasters, power outages, or cybersecurity

The following best practices and technologies can help your organization implement strong cybersecurity that reduces your vulnerability to cyber attacks and protects your critical information systems, without intruding on the user or customer experience:

Identity and access management (IAM) defines the roles and access privileges for each user, as well as the conditions under which they are granted or denied their privileges. IAM methodologies include single sign-on, which enables a user to log in to a network once without re-entering credentials during the same session; multifactor authentication, requiring two or more access credentials; privileged user accounts, which grant administrative privileges to certain users only; and user lifecycle management, which manages each user's identity and access privileges from initial registration through retirement. IAM tools can also give your cybersecurity professionals deeper visibility into suspicious activity on end-user devices, including endpoints they can’t physically access. This helps speed investigation and response times to isolate and contain the damage of a breach.

A comprehensive data security platform protects sensitive information across multiple environments, including hybrid multicloud environments. The best data security platforms provide automated, real-time visibility into data vulnerabilities, as well as ongoing monitoring that alerts them to data vulnerabilities and risks before they become data breaches; they should also simplify compliance with government and industry data privacy regulations. Backups and encryption are also vital for keeping data safe.

Security information and event management (SIEM) aggregates and analyzes data from security events to automatically detect suspicious user activities and trigger a preventative or remedial response. Today SIEM solutions include advanced detection methods such as user behavior analytics and artificial intellig