AVP thematic overview – Cybersecurity

The cybersecurity landscape has undergone significant evolution, with pivotal moments in malicious cyber attacks marking its trajectory. From the inception of the AIDS Trojan by Joseph Popp in 1990 to the widespread impact of the ILOVEYOU worm in the early 2000s, these incidents set the stage for more sophisticated attacks like Stuxnet in the 2010s. Recent years have seen a surge in cyber threats, not only for large enterprises but notably for SMEs, which now constitute over 60% of cyberattack targets. The financial toll of cybercrime is projected to reach a staggering $10.2 trillion annually by 2025. With the cloud security market becoming the fastest-growing category, there's a heightened urgency to safeguard against cyber threats. Small businesses, often lacking in resources and expertise, face a particularly daunting challenge. As the global landscape shifts towards cloud computing, the shared responsibility model and the rise of cloud security startups present new opportunities and challenges. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of these dynamics, emphasizing the critical need for tailored cybersecurity solutions, particularly for SMEs, in this rapidly evolving digital era