Worldwide, there are 37K cyber attacks per minute and 470K corporate intrusion attempts, according to Fortinet data. By using our devices, we all leave a fingerprint that can be used by cybercriminals.
Attackers can come from anywhere. The government of Ecuador received 40M attacks after the arrest of Julian Assange. Chile is in third place in the countries that have the highest index of incidents associated with intrusions to companies and financial institutions. Brazil and Mexico lead the table of cyber threats registered in Latin America.
Cyxtera consulted 150 companies, of which 79% said that cyber attacks increased or remained the same during 2018. 29% of the companies told that their financial losses from these attacks also increased.
Necessary cybersecurity plans
Cyber attacks cost the region $90B a year, according to figures from the Inter-American Development Bank. However, four out of every five countries in Latin America lack a security protocol against them.
Uruguay is the country in the region that has invested the most in the development of cybersecurity strategies. Argentina and Colombia are developing protocols to respond to these threats. In Chile, Catherine Tornel indicates that the great challenge is “to continue with the coordination that we have been developing with the rest of the authorities at the national level and the level of the financial sector, in addition to presenting the draft law on cybersecurity.”
Under this scenario, both online and banking platforms need to develop measures to protect their clients’ information from cyber attacks. Cybersecurity service expenses have increased in the last years, showing concern about the matter.
The automation to identify frauds is also necessary so that companies can respond in time to cyber attacks. Otherwise, it would require a large number of people to react in time.