Businesses in Africa are a breath away from being hit by a cyber attack, as new a report from Dell has shown that as much as 90 percent of companies on the continent operate without a cybersecurity protocol.
The company made this known at a recent forum in Lagos Nigeria. Dell collaborated with CWG and Mitsumi at the forum to share insights on ways companies can mitigate the growing spate of cyber attacks, most of which go unreported.
Dell is the technology partner and owner of Mitsumi, an IT distribution company with a presence in Nigeria while CWG deploys the technology to the market.
Afolabi Sobande, chief operating officer at CWG said the partnership between CWG, Dell Technologies and Mitsumi has brought together the best of expertise and resources to create an exceptional platform for thought leadership, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Network security protocols are rules and procedures that govern secure data transmission across a computer network. These protocols ensure that a hacker, virus or any other unauthorised person or system can’t access another’s personal data and information.
According to the report that BusinessDay saw, 61 percent of companies on the continent suffered a cyber attack in 2020 alone. This contributes to about $4 billion lost to attacks every year.
Ashraf Helmy, regional sales manager for Dell, said the attacks have increased because of the value of data.
“Data is the number 1 asset in the world today,” Helmy said while making a presentation at the event.
The ubiquity of data is also what also increases the vulnerability of companies. The implication is that companies now face multiple penetration points. A report by Verizon showed that 90 percent of data breaches are financially motivated.
“The question is not if you will be attacked, because you will be attacked. The question is when you are attacked what recovery tool would you use?” Helmy said.
Many reports have also shown that a lot of companies that have been attacked eventually paid a ransom in the hopes of recovering the data, and most of the time they never recover the data. Dell said it has developed tools that can help companies recover their data. This includes a data vault which Helmy says is a must-have for every company.
The Dell Data Vault, for example, is a software component of Dell Support Center that is used to collect information on system health, performance and environment concerning applications designed by Dell.
Natalie Khalil, services account manager at Dell Technologies, noted the importance of comprehensive service solutions in ensuring business continuity.
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