Cybersecurity is like insurance for many businesses. You know you need it, but you usually only want to seriously engage with it and invest when things are already on fire. In fact, 2025 has shown that it's no longer a question of whether a company or even an individual becomes a target, but when.

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting people, systems, and data through technical measures and clear rules (IBM). That might sound like a purely technical topic, but it's long been an existential economic question for every business.

The classic phishing email is now just the tip of the iceberg. While many trust that their simple (repeatedly outdated) firewall will hold, the overall attack surface has massively expanded. Modern businesses hang on a digital network of cloud services, external IT partners, and connected supply chains. While this usually makes daily work much easier, it simultaneously opens numerous new attack points.

A closer look: The risk in euros and percentages

That the threat isn't just perceived is shown by current data from major security reports for 2025. Here are some of the key trends:

• The price of data theft: A data breach isn't something to take lightly. The scope of such incidents can be enormous. Sometimes it's seemingly harmless information like email addresses or staff lists, but often it involves access credentials, financial information, or social security numbers. Globally, the costs for companies to handle such incidents continue to rise. While Germany saw a slight decrease in damage costs, with an average of several million euros per attack, an incident remains a potential knockout blow for mid-sized businesses (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report).
• Human vulnerability: Technology can do a lot, but not everything. In around 60 percent of all successful attacks, human action played a crucial role usually unintentionally and unnoticed (Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report).
• Trojan horse in the supply chain: Attackers analyse their targets carefully and increasingly choose the path of least resistance. Instead of attacking large corporations directly, they overwhelm smaller software vendors or service providers. Attacks through third parties now rank among the most common causes of massive operational disruptions (Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report).
• Data explosion in Europe: The sheer number of incidents is alarming. In Europe, the number of reported data breaches rose by 78 percent within a year (ENISA Threat Landscape Report).
• Risk number one: Cyber incidents are ranked globally as the greatest business risk, now even ahead of issues like inflation or energy crisis (Allianz Risk Barometer).

Why point solutions aren't enough

Many companies work with a hodgepodge of individual security measures. A VPN here, a password manager there, and somewhere an old backup solution. What looks like protection at first glance is often messy and hard to control in practice.

The real problem is the lack of overall visibility. When systems don't work together, security gaps emerge and attacks can go unnoticed for long periods. Modern ransomware no longer just encrypts data. Information is often copied first, then threatened with publication (ENISA Threat Landscape Report). Without a central strategy, you're quickly at the mercy of such attacks.

Particularly critical is a development that's only recently become clearly visible: attackers increasingly use artificial intelligence to perfect deceptions. Deepfakes or individually crafted messages appear so credible that you can no longer rely on gut feeling alone.

What to do now

T security can't be a fire-fighting exercise where you only act once damage has already occurred. The BSI emphasises that solid basic hygiene such as regular updates, clear access rights, and above all multi-factor authentication, already prevents the majority of attacks (BSI).

The most important levers are:

1. Holistic view: Treat your IT security as an integrated system, not a collection of individual products.
2. Check supply chains: Know the security standards of your service providers. A vulnerability there quickly becomes your own.
3. Train staff: Technology protects systems. Trained employees protect processes.
4. Use automation: Modern solutions detect threats early, often before a person even notices something's wrong.

Conclusion

Digitisation offers enormous opportunities but always brings risks. What matters is a stable foundation, a secure base on which all systems are built.

Those who continue to rely on isolated solutions and hope for the best will sooner or later face the consequences, whether through downtime, ransom demands, or loss of customer trust. An integrated approach ensures your business remains stable even when others don't.

DaPhi takes on exactly this coordination role. Instead of having to align with multiple IT vendors, we consolidate your security into a central, resilient infrastructure. We identify vulnerabilities before attackers do, and ensure your IT is what it should be: an engine for your business, not a permanent building site.

Image by Kris from Pixabay

Image by Elchinator from Pixabay

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