What Industries Rely on Cybersecurity the Most?
Cybersecurity is rapidly becoming one of the largest technology industries across the world and has been seeing incredible rates of both investment and recruitment. It is the defending side in a seemingly endless war against hackers and fraudsters, and it is involved in the protection of dozens of major global industries. Here are the ones using it the most.
Online Entertainment
Everything from live streaming services to online casinos come under the banner of online entertainment, and collectively they see billions of dollars in revenue each year. Between that and necessary personal data being stored, it’s no surprise that this industry relies heavily on security systems to avoid any hacks or breaches.
The level of security can vary between individual sites, but to take an example from above, you can find both advanced encryption methods and multiple levels of user security available at most large online casino sites. This applies for every step of the process such as account creation, deposits and withdrawals, and playing any of the many games, with different types of authentication and encryption used throughout. Other sites, such as streaming platforms and subscription services, will also have some degree of cybersecurity, although the level usually depends on how sensitive the content is.
FinTech
This is another industry that encompasses a wide variety of specific businesses, but each one is usually tied to a wealth of critical, sensitive information. Even small financial app startups require access to bank accounts and personal information to function, and when we consider the biggest online banks, the scale of information is enormous.
As a result, fintech uses some of the heaviest levels of encryption in the world, with only top-level state agencies likely having heavier defenses. This is why, in the case of most online banks or large digital wallets, several layers of user authentication accompany almost every action, whether that’s paying a home loan or just sending a taxi fare to a friend. At all levels, cybersecurity keeps the whole fintech world running.
Online Retail
Most people associate cybersecurity with top-level technology and sophisticated software to ward off hackers, but in reality, the majority of hacks and data theft aren’t that complex. The main method used is usually simpler. Emails and messages are used to make customers willingly hand over sensitive information by acting as an authority, with online retailers being the most commonly imitated.
In this case, the most valuable kind of cybersecurity comes down to customer education. It’s the reason that banks now regularly message customers with detailed information on spotting scams. Phishing scams and fraud account for a staggering portion of money stolen each year, and even if retail sites implement top security systems, they only work if customers know how to use them correctly.
We’ve yet to see the limits of how far cybersecurity will develop, and there’s no doubt that future tech industries will rely on it just as much. It may be worth looking into as a skill set or investment now!
