The current cyber crime scene is very similar to the American Far West, when there was no Law and Order, no police force, and no military.

To protect themselves and their families, citizens had to be armed. That’s what led to the birth of the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

Today, Cybercriminals act with total impunity. Compare them to a band of Rogue Outlaws riding their horses across the United States and terrorizing honest citizens in every village that lay in their path.

The lonely sheriff and his Deputy are definitely no match for a confrontation of this magnitude.

They rob the bank, violate the women and destroy everything on their path.

At some point, the men of the village realize that they need to be deputized and create a united front to protect their wives, children and their own survival.

Now take this scenario and put it on the international scale. When it comes to cyber crime, there are no borders.

Ransomware can hit randomly and target any computer around the world. There is no law, police force, or justice system that can stop it.

Compare the honest citizens of the village to companies and individuals. I think you get the picture by now.

So as long as there is no cooperation between law enforcement agencies around the world, and that they remain ill-equipped to face such a menace, the only appropriate course of action is to ensure your own safety.

Well, currently companies are protected by the lonely sheriff and occasionally a deputy.

I am obviously talking about a typical firewall and antivirus combo.

I do not see governments coming to any kind of agreement anytime soon.

So the next best thing is cooperation between corporations.

They must share their knowledge of every known threats to help beef up protection on an international scale.

If you run a company and do not take your cybersecurity seriously, it’s like letting the outlaw kill the man of the house and letting the rest of the family in distress.

Alexandre Ouaknine is a Senior IT Auditor and Cybersecurity Expert at Audit Solutions.

He can be reached at [email protected]