Pedro Veiga: cyber-attacks may lead companies to bankruptcy

A company which is not worried about cybersecurity “may go bankrupt or be sold for nothing”, stated Pedro Veiga, coordinator for the Portuguese Center for Cybersecurity (CNCS), an arm from the Portuguese Security Office. He highlighted the importance of protecting data and digital information in 21^st century companies: “The attacks are getting more complex and hackers need less knowledge to perform them“, he highlighted.

"A company or organization which does not comprehend these three dimensions concerning cybersecurity may go bankrupt or be sold for nothing.”

Therefore, companies need to have the right tools to “survive in the digital world”, Pedro Veiga stated in the Cybersecurity Conference organized by ECO, in Lisbon. “All organizations — and even us, as individuals –, need to be aware of the risks coming from the devices we use”.

Pedro Veiga explained there are three dimensions to cybersecurity: technic and technological, organizational and administrative. “A company or organization which does not comprehend these three dimensions concerning cybersecurity may go bankrupt or be sold for nothing”, he stated, recalling the cases of Yahoo! and Target, two companies which were affected because of weaknesses in digital security and clients’ data protection. Veiga believes everyone in any organization should care about trying to prevent these types of problems.

“These attacks are getting more complex and hackers need less knowledge to perform them”, warned Pedro Veiga, because nowadays it is possible for a hacker to acquire the software he will use to commit the crime without having to develop it himself.

Pedro Veiga also emphasized the need to watch out for internal threats in companies through industrial espionage. Companies should be protected against exterior threats, but also from its own employees.