In the last decade, many companies and businesses have doubled their investment in cybersecurity. This is an important aspect because most organizations are now using large amounts of data that if breached, can be costly. There is also an increasing number of stories of malicious cyber attacks that can be paralyzing for any organization. Businesses are now in a race to keep pace with the sophistication of cyber-attacks and the complexity involved in preventing them.
Every new technology that is introduced also brings with it new adversities and potential threats. The sophistication and complexity of cybersecurity have been increasing with every attack, and this trend will also continue with future attacks.
Along with new technology, businesses are also dealing with the new challenges, technical or otherwise, that have been brought up by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many organizations have also begun to face cyber threats which are increasing day by day especially since the pandemic started in march. To help you be ready for future cyber threats, listed below are the 10 trends emerging in cybersecurity that you need to be aware of.
1. Rise of Remote Workplace
Covid-19 pandemic has introduced a shift towards the online workplace. This has eventually resulted in huge attention being given to cybersecurity as well. There was sudden and unplanned immigration toward the cloud system, businesses began procuring IT infrastructure to be able to accommodate this new workplace. Do not rush into buying equipment and skipping basic cybersecurity protocols in the process.
This will lead to new threats and attacks happening in the future that will cost you time and money and effort that can simply be prevented by doing the process right in the first place. It is important to take an assessment of your current cybersecurity infrastructure, identify any areas that should be improved and start planning your long-term cybersecurity strategy.
2. Challenging Ransomware
The most common breach businesses face in their data is ransomware. This threat is predicted to continue becoming more complicated and increasing. The price incurred in repairing the damage done by ransomware is always high.
Ransomware is designed for stealing data from a company and threatening them to release this data, mostly private unless they pay an amount. Zero trust network access has become a famous method used to protect against such attacks.
3. Using Multi-Factor Authentication
Passwords have become a standard practice for cybersecurity but most companies have now adopted a multi-factor authentication to add to their defence against breaches of data. This also involves the users using more than a single device for confirmation.
While this sounds good, Microsoft recently discovered that the lax security in telephone networks actually makes multi-factor authentication that makes use of SMS and passcodes sent to mobile phones a weaker cybersecurity option. It is imperative to find a way to implement MFA within your company while minimizing the negative impacts.
4. Rise of Artificial Intelligence
The complexity as well as the capabilities of AI and machine learning are increasing and will continue to do so in the future. The security infrastructure also needs to be at par with this. AI is being increasingly used in the workplace to do repetitive jobs to remove human error factors. AI is also able to easily manage and deal with large quantities of data that is extremely beneficial to companies and businesses.
This also means that criminals have also begun to make use of AI technology in their attacks, using model stealing or data poisoning as a part of their cyberattacks. The best protection against such attacks is using and implementing AI-powered systems of security. These can be designed to focus their power on the detection of threats that can save you a lot of time and money.
5. Attack On Cloud Services
Cloud-based services and cloud-hosted processes have become an essential part of the online workplace. These offer a number of benefits including efficiency and scalability at low costs. These have also become targets of cybercrime.
Companies need to take action to determine the security implications of using cloud-based services and take measures against these weaknesses. Before a company migrates their data and workload onto a cloud-based system, it is better to get a good understanding of the security measures that should also be put in place to avoid any breaches of data.
6. Data Privacy
The major cyber attacks that have taken place have been to expose the personally identifiable information of millions of people. This has brought up concerns regarding privacy data, its management and security. Data privacy is developing into its own program rather than being a part of one cybersecurity program.
Data privacy has an impact on every aspect of a company, from creation to implementation of corporate strategies to security and HR. Companies need to start paying attention to encryptions in transitions, role-based access to data, segmentation of networks and privacy officers. It is best to take time to detect and understand the areas that can be attacked.
7. Need For Cybersecurity Professionals
Almost all companies have found that finding capable and skilled cybersecurity professionals is always difficult. The increased use of and the need for a distributed workplace has created an even larger demand for such individuals. Organizations everywhere are on the lookout for professionals who can better their cybersecurity and corporate networks.
Apart from hiring, there is also a need to focus on the training of the staff and other employees about how to protect against such attacks or even detect them. Hiring the required cybersecurity professionals can take some time, but a company-wide program for training existing staff is also a must. It can also act as a buffer while you hire professionals. Training should be provided to all the staff members, including the executives for the initiative to be successful.
8. Rise Of Insider Threats
Distributed and remote workplaces have also brought to light the problem of insider threats. While a company would like to think that all threats are coming from the outside, one cannot ignore the reality that some cyber threats can also originate from inside the company. This problem also arises from hiring remote employees who can be present in any part of the world and hired only after the virtual meetings.
While this can be difficult to accept, companies have now begun to pay attention to the possibility that cyber threats can also originate from within the organization. Businesses have to treat insider threats seriously and see them as the risks that they are.
9. Need For Chief Security Officers
There is a need to tighten security across all systems, but very few are able to fully realize this or even manage it efficiently. Security and risk management is still gaining popularity and one barrier that it needs to cross is the availability of individuals who can implement the business strategy integrated with security operations.
There is a gap between business and security, which leads to reduced efficiency of the cybersecurity that is in place in the workplace. This means that the chief security officers in companies need to develop vigilance to identify risks that can harm the business objectives. They should also be in a position to communicate the same to the business executives. Finding the risks early and good communication can help in the development of an adequate plan to lower these risks.
10. Need For Real-Time Data Visibility
Executives are doing their best to manage the cybersecurity aspect of their company. But their efforts lack due to the absence of a comprehensive understanding of their technology landscape. Companies sometimes lack a full inventory of their IT assets or even third-party suppliers and the cloud-based applications being in their business. This leads to a weak risk management strategy against cyberattacks.
This can be improved upon by the introduction of real-time data visibility in the company. This can make the management of data as well as data protection easy and of a better degree. If you know exactly where the data is located, you can protect it better. The implementation of such automated systems of security will reduce chances of data theft of breaches and increase efficiency and overall resilience against cybersecurity threats.
