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Even big tech companies invest billions of dollars in cybersecurity. Click to find out the reasons behind and why you should also care about cybersecurity.

Our topic today: Big tech companies & cyber security investment!

Big tech companies take advantage of their enormous and valuable data during the breakthrough of online businesses, digital payments, remote workforces, etc. Such big data is also rewarding to cyber criminals, making those companies targeted by cyber attacks.

It is vital for those companies, then, to enhance their security and defenses against data breaches, malware attacks, and ransomware.

Facts: Big Tech Companies & Cyber Security Investment

In early 2022, Statista published its report about the cybersecurity investment of big tech GAFAM, including Google/Alphabet; Facebook/Meta; Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.

Up to 23 cybersecurity-related acquisitions were signed in 2021, equivalent to $2,397 million. It was four times as much as 2020’s value. Cloud defenses and the ever-expanding Internet of Things were the most prioritized.

This year, the GAFAM members have announced their plans to beef up the investment significantly.

Google/Alphabet

Google parent Alphabet acquired the famous cybersecurity platform, Mandiant in March for $5.4 billion. According to IBM, the deal is attributed to the rise in cybercrime incidents and the average cost per incident at a whopping $9.05 million.

By adding Mandiant to Google Cloud, the company expects an end-to-end security suite for its users on the cloud, thus, increasing the revenue of Google Cloud as a secure platform.

Facebook/Meta

Since its unprecedented data breach in 2018, Facebook has revamped its privacy policy and focused on cybersecurity.

$13 billion was used by the company on safety and security from 2016 to late 2021. The investment in 2022 has not been revealed, yet it indeed becomes bigger.

Amazon

The tech and e-commerce giant – Amazon had a cybersecurity-focused meeting with the U.S President – Mr. Biden, in 2021. Right after, the company promised to invest $10 billion in the next five years to enhance cybersecurity, along with a committed training for 100,000 Americans in technical fields.

Apple

Apple is well-known for its superior cybersecurity protection.

This is an example of how Apple invests in its products towards cyber security. The company unprecedentedly launched its App Tracking Transparency lately to notify iPhone users when there is an app trying to track their activities across other apps and websites. This way, users can be aware of suspicious data breaches.

Microsoft

Microsoft committed to spending $20 billion on protecting its services against cybersecurity within five years, from 2021 to 2025.

Even more, this tech giant promised to sponsor $150 million in technical services to upgrade the security capabilities of state, federal, and local governments.

Why Have Big Tech Companies Invested In Cyber Security?

CB Insights – the trustworthy data intelligence platform just published five reasons why the tech giants spend their money and effort in cybersecurity.

Increasing Cyber Attacks

Criminals have targeted the cyber world in attempts to make profits from stolen, sensitive personal data or intellectual property.

However, we witnessed a record-breaking year of cyber attacks and cybersecurity-related accidents in 2021 – a 40% increase compared to the previous year. It was reported that 1 out of 61 organizations was weekly impacted by ransomware.

Big tech companies are no exception. They have one thing in common: the vast database considering their large number of users.

For example, Google collects as much data as possible to suggest relevant results to your search intents. It means the company stores a ton of data on you and people worldwide. If attackers can access this database, you might risk malware, phishing, crypto-jacking accidents, etc. Thus, the company needs to enhance cybersecurity and protect its users.

Move To The Cloud

Cloud has been a trend over the past years. There are up to 84% of businesses taking advantage of cloud services. It has become even more popular among high-tech companies thanks to the cloud’s storage and syncing capabilities at high speed.

The move of data across networks poses an opportunity for cyber crooks to access and steal a large amount of data.

The Shortage of Cybersecurity Professionals

The increase in cyber attacks results in the need for cybersecurity workers. According to cyber seek, there are over 714,548 cybersecurity job openings now worldwide.

However, the number of professionals is limited due to a significant skills gap in soft skills, cloud computing, and security controls. As a result, tech giants invest more in training their human resources in cybersecurity.

Fragmented Tech Market

The IT services industry is clarified as a fragmented market in economic jargon because of its characteristics: low barriers to entry; competitors of small and mid-size; requirements for specialized technical skills; various market segments; and more.

The more fragmented it is, the more vulnerable IT data becomes. In such a situation, big tech companies aim to invest in cybersecurity to reduce the impact of fragments.

Regulations on Data Privacy

Due to the increase in cyber-attacks, governments have launched many regulations on data privacy to protect end-users. The rules must be followed strictly by big tech companies, in particular, and organizations worldwide in general.

Best Practices

For Business

What to learn from big tech companies’ investment in cybersecurity?

• Set up a firewall barrier to prevent cyber criminals from your business data.
• Invest in the security of software and hardware while keeping them all up-to-date.
• Use anti-virus and anti-malware solutions to detect suspicious dangers in the first place.
• Back up sensitive data on secure cloud platforms and tools.
• Build a cyber-risk culture by training employees and spreading a shared responsibility for cybersecurity on every task at work.
• Tightly manage access to your assets, particularly when remote working becomes more popular.

For End-users

Your cyber data are at risk. Do not wait for big tech companies to protect you from cybersecurity. It is time to take notes of the best practices and protect your personal information.

Here are some practices:

• Also, update your software regularly to remove possible vulnerabilities – the sources of ransomware attacks.
• Apply anti-virus protection from trusted vendors to block malicious viruses from accessing your devices.
• Double protect your data with two-factor or multi-factor authenticating tools.
• Always set a strong and complicated password and avoid using the same password for different applications (use a password management tool if those passwords are hard to remember.)
• Back up your data and store them on secure cloud platforms.
• Stay away from strange links, popups, and emails since they can be phishing attacks.
• Only connect your devices to secure Wi-Fi; do not use public Wi-Fi. An unauthorized connection exposes your sensitive data to wireless sniffing attacks.
• Finally, learn about common cyber attacks and how to prevent them.

Wrapping Up

Big tech companies will invest more and more in cybersecurity, and it is good news for you – as a business or end-user who use their services. On the other hand, you can also save our helpful practices to protect your sensitive data and enjoy a secure cyber world.