In a reality where the complaints and, consequently, the victims of cybercrime increase according to data from the National Statistics Office (ONE) and the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Crimes and High Technology Crimes, it seems logical that investments to combat them grow at this rate.
The Association of Commercial Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA) estimated in RD$1,500 million the investments of banking entities in 2022 for the education of users, so that they avoid being victims of cybercriminals. This meant a 11.1% more than in 2021, when RD$1,350 million was reached, as revealed by the executive president of the financial union, Rosanna Ruíz.
In this sense, for the manager of Fortinet Dominican Republic, Claudio Nunezpromoting mechanisms to defend the entire cyber banking system is fundamental, because, as he explained, banks contain data of interest for hackers“because of what that information means”.
Cybersecurity training
In the fight against cybercrime, the human capital It is not only a transcendental part, but it is also the weakest link, according to the specialist. “We can make many investments in technology and cybersecurity solutions, however, when we do not have properly trained personnel, trained, with some awareness of cybersecurity, there will always be risks”, he explains.
Point out that the companies today they are increasingly concerned about the issue and, in fact, from Fortinet they are working together with Dominican companies. This is how he understands that security strategies must be considered as a transversal axis in business. “Every time we innovate and adopt more digital components those cyber risks increase, so businesses must be aware of starting to establish security and cybersecurity strategies,” she said.
In 2022, the Dominican Republic received 5 billion attempts of cyberattacks according to the FortiGuard Labs Global Threats report. It is estimated that they will increase even more with the ransomwarea criminal tool that aims to kidnap the information of companies or individuals, and through which criminals request a payment in return.
He assures that there is a significant increase in this type of incidents because an individual can contract these services to direct an attack towards a specific target. “Criminals are already grouped together and using very advanced technologies, there is even talk of artificial intelligence to launch these types of threats,” he warned.
This is how he ensures that there is no company protected in terms of cybersecurity issues. “We cannot say that they are not going to attack, What we really have to worry about is when they are going to attack us and if we have the necessary tools to be able to remedy those attacks,” he added.
According to him report Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap 2023, nearly 50% of organizations surveyed globally suffered attacks costing more than $1 million in the last 12 months.
The figures they become more alarming because they represent a 38% increase compared to last year’s report. The threat turns into a double challenge the training human. Núñez emphasizes that technological innovation and digital transformation, facing companies, causes a greater demand for professionals adapted to those needs.
Investments
The specialist indicates that the strategies Cybersecurity should not be seen as added costs, but should be understood as a process. In this sense, they must be defined in all sectors.
Human training, both technical and awareness, are also important, as well as establishing control mechanisms, because companies can invest in technologies and solutions, but if they do not have policies and regulations, understand that it is money badly invested. He concludes that it involves three components: technology, processes, and people.