There is so much talk about cyberwar and advanced persistent threats. One can get really scared.
However, if you look at the facts, you only have to follow the money. Or in other words answer the question, where can an attacker make the most bang for the buck. It is true that cyberwar has become a reality and that intelligence organisations try to steal information for competetive or military advantages. But most of the attacks are ransomware like the latest WannCry.
For your own perusal you can check the Information is Beautiful website on the biggest security breaches. Breaches represented by bubbles that differ in size graphically explain the situation. If you try to count the bubbles you will notice that the number has slowly risen, but their size representing the amount of money lost due to the breach has grown astronomically.
Data most often does not get manipulated but stolen for various purposes including but not limited to identity theft, selling credit card data or stealing business critical information related to competetive advantages.
So companies and especially their upper management do good to prepare for when a breach occurs. Some CEOs already had to leave their jobs, e.g. Target, or a breach significantly reduced the value of the company, e.g. Yahoo.
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