Cyber security has become a very critical management issue nowadays. Cyber security is about the protection of intellectual property that is valuable and any business information that is in digital form, from theft and misuse. The US government says that cyber security is one of the most serious security challenges on the economic and national front that is being faced today. Companies now need to enact strict regulations to keep away the cyber attacks. The threats have grown in pace and in complexity. Companies should adopt approaches which call for a greater involvement from the senior executives so that information is protected without hampering innovation and growth of the organization.

Many big brands have added tremendous strength in the past five years, to their cyber security capacities. Strategies have been developed and implemented to identify and prioritise IT security risks. A large sum of money has also been dedicated to the concern of cyber security. Desktop environments are far less wide open now, USB ports have been disabled and webmail services have been blocked. Sturdy technologies have been installed to check attacks. The technologies being used by enterprises nowadays have made it harder for the organizations to protect the information but simultaneously it has made it even more important to protect them.

There are four common trends:

• Digital data has become more vulnerable. More online transactions create greater incentives for the cyber criminals. Corporations which look towards mining data create intellectual property that is valuable and thus is an attractive target.
• It is imperative for corporations to be more open than they were before. People demand access to networks with the same phone that they use in their personal lives. Although. Devices like smartphones and tablets have increased connectivity but they have even caused an increase in the threats to cyber security. Easy points for entry into networks for malware are created.
• Supply chains have become interconnected to a large extent. Companies encourage vendors and customers to join their network. This strengthens the ties with the customers and leads to the optimization of supply chain. This integration definitely has many benefits but company’s defense against attacks now also depends on security policies adopted by the customers. One weak link puts the whole network at risk.
• Malevolent elements have become technologically more sophisticated. In many cases they are even better equipped than the security systems of organizations. Organized cyber crimes seem to be better funded than the security systems or organizations.