Businesses are more vulnerable to cyber attacks than ever before. It’s no longer just about preventing the latest malware or phishing attempts, but also taking steps to prevent data breaches and insider threats.
Since businesses typically don’t have the budget to hire a full-time IT department, they need to find ways to stay ahead of cyber criminals while still being cost-effective with their security. Here are some of the top trends we’re seeing in cyber security right now:
Zero-Trust Security
The zero-trust security strategy is an approach to cybersecurity that extends beyond traditional network defences and requires a holistic approach to security. Since it assumes that all devices, applications and users are potential threats, zero trust requires a shift in thinking about traditional network security.
Instead of focusing on protecting the perimeter, it focuses on securing all endpoints – including mobile devices, IoT devices and cloud applications – with access policies that monitor behaviour instead of relying solely on users’ identities.
Insider Threats
Insider threats are a major concern for all businesses.
With the rise of unique security threats and the ease of accessing sensitive data, it’s imperative to train your staff on best practices in order to keep your organization secure.
As employees are often the ones who have access to sensitive information, they can also be the perpetrators of insider attacks. Because of this, it’s important that you ensure compliance with security standards by ensuring all devices are properly managed.
And don’t forget about all those vacation photos—you may consider setting up some sort of protocol around when they can and cannot be accessed while travelling outside office hours (for example).
Hybrid Working
As the economy continues to improve, employers are hiring more contractors and freelancers. And they’re not just hiring them to fill in gaps—they’re hiring them to take over full-time roles. In fact, a study by Freelancer found that nearly half of companies are using more remote workers than they used to.
This is great news for anyone who works remotely or wants to work remotely—but it also means that you need a security strategy for your business.
How do you protect yourself from hackers when all your employees are working from home? How can you ensure that sensitive data doesn’t get leaked when some employees aren’t on site? How can you keep track of all company assets if employees tend to move around so much?
This is where a company hires both full-time staff members (in-house) along with part-time or contract workers (remote). The mix of full-time and remote workers makes it harder for hackers or other attackers to target one group and gain access over another group within the same organization. However, it’s key to set up sophisticated access control systems, such as those offered by MJ Flood Security and similar businesses, in order to ensure a safe and secure hybrid work environment.
User Education
User education is a necessity. You can’t just assume that all of your employees will be smart enough to avoid phishing emails or malicious websites. They need to be trained on what they are looking out for, and how to spot it when it happens.
If a new policy comes down from the top, make sure you pass it along to your team so everyone knows about it at once instead of having one employee get duped into a phishing scam because someone else didn’t know about the policy change yet.
Data Privacy Breach Laws
Data privacy breach laws are growing and changing globally. For instance, GDPR is a regulation that affects companies in the EU and other nations that do business with them. The EU law is an attempt to increase transparency about what data is collected, how it’s used, and how long it’s stored.
In addition to the regulations in Europe and the United States, there are also several countries considering their own data privacy laws.
For example, Australia has passed legislation requiring businesses to notify customers when a breach has occurred within two days of discovery; they must also inform regulators within 30 days after discovery of any breaches involving more than 5 users’ data (or equivalent).
See our post on the legal advice and searches needed to buy a home in Ireland as well.
Businesses need to be vigilant and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to exploit businesses. One way they do this is by impersonating a company employee and asking for sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers. This is known as phishing. The goal of phishing attacks is to steal money from you or get access to sensitive data that can be used in other fraudulent schemes.
You can protect yourself from becoming a victim by following these three steps:
- Stay on top of new threats by regularly updating your software and changing passwords frequently
- Make sure to have appropriate business insurance that protects against data breaches and cyber attacks
- Install antivirus software on all devices that access the network
- Have an incident response plan in place so you know what actions to take when something happens
- The best defence against cyber attacks is preventing them by being vigilant about security best practices, such as patching software vulnerabilities quickly and limiting user access to only those functions they need to perform their jobs.
- Users are the weakest link in any cybersecurity chain, so it’s important they understand how to keep their accounts safe from hacking attempts through regular email reminders or training sessions.
Conclusion
As you can see, the cybersecurity landscape is changing at a rapid pace. Businesses need to be vigilant and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. We’ve covered some of the most important trends that are going to shape the future of business security in this blog post and hope you found it useful!
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