Companies across the globe have sped up their digitalization processes and enabled their employees to work from home. Those changes were mostly forced by the pandemic, but the implemented model is here to stay. As the result, a lot of companies have been more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Digitalization can be a lifesaver, or more a company saver, but it needs to be done properly and it needs to include cybersecurity tactics. The increased number of cyberattacks forced companies to step up their identity verification process game and focus more on cyber threats.
Our whole life has been turned upside down the moment we started to use the Internet. We have become dependent on it not only in our work life but also in our private life. We have more and more access to all online services, and the number of possibilities grows each day. To stay relevant and keep up with the changing world businesses turn to offer their services online. Those who do not invest in cybersecurity are the ones that fall victim to attacks. Small businesses that don’t have the resources for cybersecurity are especially endangered. 43% of cyber attacks target small companies and 60% of them go out of business within six months.
Current cyberattacks all over the world have taken down operations at crucial parts of not only the economy but our lives. Among the affected were the military, hospitals, grocery chains, media groups, banks, and much more. How can we be affected when a company’s security is breached? The data that we shared with that company may be part of the breach. Like Marriott’s data breach, that exposed the addresses and phone numbers of 5.2 million of its guests. Even if we don’t travel we can still be in danger. Zoom, a popular video communication software program, was a victim of a cyberattack and their users’ data have been leaked. Those incidents cause huge reputation damage to the companies and for the people affected by the attack. And trust that has once been lost is very difficult to regain.
It’s because it is the easiest option. Remote attacks require only knowledge and access to the Internet. What’s more, those sorts of attacks can be anonymous due to the nature of the Internet. So with minimum effort, attackers can gain the information they want and not get punished.
The global average cost of a data breach is $3.9 million. For public companies it is even higher, on average a data breach would cost $116 million. Small businesses spend an average of $955,429 to restore normal business after a successful attack. Figuring out how a cyber attack happened could cost $15,000 alone. Cybercrime costs small and medium businesses more than $2.2 million a year. What is even worse, almost half of the small businesses have no understanding of how to protect themselves against cyber attacks. And 25% of them didn’t realize cyberattacks would cost them money. It is estimated that by the end of 2021 cyberattacks will cause $6 trillion in damages.
What can companies do to fight cybercrime? First of all invest in cybersecurity. A big part of that is complying with KYC rules. Businesses should know who their customer is and if he is who he says he is. The easy method of confirming the users’ identity is identity verification. Companies begin to realize the potential upsides of this technology and they start to invest in identity verification processes. According to Research and Markets report, the global identity verification market is expected to grow from USD 7.6 billion in 2020 to USD 15.8 billion by 2025.
How else can the identity verification process be used to fight cybercrime? The possibilities are vast. Data can be lost when they are transmitted to a user. To mitigate that data can be encrypted. The most commonly used mechanism in protecting data is cryptography. There is a potential in using identity-based encryption and use identity verification to confirm a user’s who he says he is. However, this would require technical know-how from potential users. Identity verification is also used to maintain customer satisfaction and show that companies care about users’ security and privacy. This action increases trust and the company’s reputation.
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Fully-Verified offers a video identity verification solution that can be made compliant with the strictest of regulations. Our services are supported by the latest technology and artificial intelligence. The verification can be performed at any time and at any place in the world. Using our automated identity verifications users go through the whole procedure on their own. The Live-Verify option is led or supervised by a trained operator, which ensures the highest level of security and accuracy.
Fully-Verified was created as answer to its founders collectively losing over $150 000 to various types of fraud in their eCommerce businesses.