Challenges of Cyber Security on Business Performances in Pakistan

RUNNING HEAD: Business Research
Business Research
Challenges of Cyber Security on Business performances. A case study of medium and large
enterprises in Pakistan

Challenges of Cyber Security on Business performances. A case study of medium and large
enterprises in Pakistan 1
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Project objective....................................................................................................................................2
Project scope.........................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review..................................................................................................................................3
Research Questions...............................................................................................................................5
Research Design and Methodology.......................................................................................................6
Qualitative research..........................................................................................................................6
Quantitative research........................................................................................................................6
Research Limitations.............................................................................................................................8
Time Schedule (Research plan)..............................................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
Reference List......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix.............................................................................................................................................12
Gantt chart.......................................................................................................................................12

Challenges of Cyber Security on Business performances. A case study of medium and large
enterprises in Pakistan 2
Introduction
Cyber security can be understood as the process and set of technologies which is designed
in order to protect data and systems in the cyber world from the cyber-attacks (James,
2016). Due to the increased use of internet and technology, the number of cyber-attacks
have increased. The research is about the challenges of cyber security on the business
performance of the medium and large scale enterprises in Pakistan. The project proposal
includes the research questions and the methodology which will be used to take up the
research. Conclusion and recommendations will be provided for future of the industries of
Pakistan.
Project objective
The main objective of the project is to find out the challenges through which the medium
and large enterprises of Pakistan are going through. It will further aim at investigation of the
cyber threat protection policies in Pakistan which helps the enterprises in resolving the
problems faced by the companies. It is also to find out the main threats and their effect on
the companies. It will help in combating those threats and finding a way for businesses to
perform well without being a prey to cyber attackers (Hall, 2016).
Project scope
The scope of the project is broad. It is because Cyber security challenges are faced by almost
every next organisation in the world. This is because of the growing use of internet
(Clemente, 2013). The project affirms that if proper actions will be taken up by the
government and companies, a tough fight can be given to the cyber attackers and the threat
can be reduced. The scope is broad because it discusses about the whole medium and large
scale enterprises of Pakistan.

Challenges of Cyber Security on Business performances. A case study of medium and large
enterprises in Pakistan 3
Literature Review
From the review of literature, it can be said that different authors have different opinions on
the topic. As per Reddy & Reddy (2014), the cyber attackers hit the integrity and
confidentiality of data and pose a serious challenge to the businesses as this information be
leaked to competitors. This is why, it is considered as one of the most common and serious
threats because it might hamper the overall global position of the business (Foreshew,
2017).
In the opinion of Elmaghraby & Losavio (2014), the medium and large enterprises of the
nation plays a major role in its development. These industries or companies helps in
generating employment thereby reducing poverty and giving basic living to people. The loss
of data of these enterprises will indirectly impact the population working in these
companies. The hackers have the main motive to leak the sensitive information either to
blackmail or to use it against the owner of data. In Pakistan, National Database and
Registration Authority (NADRA) is the authority which keep details regarding passports,
networks of mobile, bank passwords, bank details, etc. Cyber attackers might target NADRA
for accessing the information which could have major negative implications in future.
As per Choo (2011), the cyber security issues decreases the overall business performance
and creates a fear of losing the data. The hackers generally attack the single server and then
link it to other servers to destroy all the systems at once. DDoS attacks is the biggest threat
which made its victims like BBC, Rio Olympics and more (Lohrke, Frownfelter-Lohrke and
Ketchen Jr, 2016). Cyber-attacks not only results in the loss of trust between the company
and the customer but also results in the loss of profits. It is very important for the
enterprises to adopt data protection systems and privacy policies so that they can save
themselves from facing the havoc (Nojeim, 2010).
In the words of Awan and Memon, (2016), Pakistan is a developing country and the attacks
like Trojans, frauds, phishing are most commonly faced by the companies operating in the
country. To prevent themselves from the cyber-attacks, the government should run training
programs for the medium and large scale enterprises to let them know how they can
protect their data and business as a whole (Kaplan, Sharma & Weinberg, 2011).
Justification to the research problem
It is evident that no country is now untouched with cyber threat. The countries who are
actively using technology is also facing the repercussions and are becoming the victims of
cyber criminals. This is a serious issue which should not be ignored and should be taken care
of so that the company could play safely with the data without getting in the fear of losing
the confidential data and privacy (Abomhara, 2015).
Gap in literature review
There is a gap in the literature review that it does not discuss about the steps which could
be taken by the collaboration of government and businesses to combat the serious threat.