7 Cybersecurity Trends That Every Business Owner Should Be Aware Of
By Naimisha
Published On March 23, 2023
As business owners, keeping up with emerging trends in cyber security is imperative. According to Verizon, data breaches among businesses doubled in frequency during the past year. To prevent this, you must equip your organization with the right tools and the latest insights. With that, here are some of the cybersecurity trends that every business owner should know:
1. More demand for real-time data visibility
According to IBM, the average time it takes for businesses to identify and contain a breach is 277 days. The longer this breach remains unaddressed, the more data gets leaked. This in turn can have a larger impact on your business. You need real-time visibility to keep your networks and endpoints secure without increasing allocations on human resources to solve the issue.
To gain real-time data, businesses deploy cyber security tools in their systems and operations. These solutions provide real-time monitoring and continuous security assessment so you can be proactive and preventive in case any potential risks arise.
Additionally, having cyber security experts in your organization helps give you peace of mind. When hiring, you must check if applicants have computer security degrees. This ensures the professional took rigorous training in cyber laws, threats and defenses, and computer forensics, among many others.
2. Remote workers as top targets of attacks
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shift towards remote work. A report by Pew Research Center shows that almost 83% of workers now work from home. While this is convenient and effective for many organizations, it can also leave your business more vulnerable to data breaches and leaks. With the lack of physical security in their remote workers’ homes and personal devices, more businesses deal with new levels of vulnerability and risks. Recent technology in the workplace statistics show that 80% of companies have seen an increase in cyber attacks since shifting to remote work.
For many, this sudden shift resulted in unplanned cloud migration and procurement of IT products and services for their virtual workplace. They rushed through several security measures to keep their operations running. With the lack of physical security in their remote workers’ homes and personal devices, more businesses deal with new levels of vulnerability and risks.
With that, reassess your current security infrastructures and focus on areas of weakness that were possibly overlooked during the migration. Additionally, you must consider planning for the long-term security of your virtual workplaces as businesses continue to move towards digitization.
3. Rising frequency of ransomware threats
Ransomware is one of the top cyber security threats to any organization in 2023. It is a type of extortion attack where criminals steal your company’s data and threaten to release all private data or block access unless you pay a ransom. As more businesses embrace full digital transformation, cybercriminals increasingly turned to ransomware attacks to gain profit.
Worse, criminals are getting more creative and sophisticated with their techniques in accessing and stealing your data. So even with your current cyber security tools, your business can easily fall victim to such an attack.
Consider investing in the latest and most advanced cybersecurity software. This will make sure that your current security measures are up-to-date and can protect you from the newest forms of ransomware attacks.
4. Threats coming from the inside
Humans can often be the weakest link to your cyber security. Whether intentional or unintentional, your employees can play a critical role in data breaches or leaks within the company. And with remote work on the rise, insider threats are becoming a high area of concern for many organizations.
Employees tend to have access to any sensitive data within your organization, including your security practices, employee or customer data, and financial records. As much as you would want to trust them, their actions can have severe impacts on your data security and privacy. According to Cybersecurity Insiders 74% also say insider threat attacks have been getting more frequent, a 6% increase over 2021. 60% of respondents reported that they experienced an insider attack in 2022, while 8% experienced more than 20. 48% agree that insider attacks are more difficult to detect and prevent than external attacks.
For example, one of your workers could have accidentally deleted, modified, or disclosed sensitive data. In another scenario, you might have a former employee who, out of spite, stole and leaked your company’s data. Hence, it is important to use a zero-trust approach with your cyber security. This type of approach teaches you not to trust anything outside or inside of your organization. Instead, you must verify everything connected to your system before allowing access–even your employees.
5. Phishing in the time of COVID
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, phishing attacks became more widespread. In fact, a recent report shows that 83% of businesses had received phishing emails in the last 12 months. Cybercriminals exploit people’s curiosity and interest in the vaccine and other COVID-related topics by incorporating it into their phishing campaigns. Your remote employee might fall prey to such schemes.
It is high time to learn how to mitigate phishing attacks on your organization. You can do this by training and educating your workers on the common signs of a phishing scam. Likewise, you should establish rules and guidelines on how to properly exercise caution when sharing information online—both during and outside of work.
You can also avail tools to reduce phishing against your employees. This includes domain risk assessment tools, domain controller, and identity and access management software.
6. Increased attacks on cloud services
More businesses started investing in cloud services. In fact, a report shows that total spending for cloud technology has increased to 34% compared to last year.
While cloud technology can offer you a wealth of benefits in flexibility and scalability, it can also leave you vulnerable to unauthorized access and cyberattacks. You need to carefully evaluate the security implications of adopting cloud infrastructure and determine any potential risks.
Although most cloud services provide their default security configurations and measures, you must also exercise your own security protocols. After all, cloud security processes should be a shared responsibility between you and your cloud service provider. Check out this checklist to find out how you can strengthen your cloud security posture.
7. Critical need for multi-factor authentication
Passwords are just some flimsy barriers protecting you from potential data breaches and leaks. Nowadays, cybercriminals can brute force their way into your business applications and employees’ accounts by guessing passwords. Hence, it is always a good idea to add another layer of protection during logins.
Deploying multi-factor authentication during login is one of the latest data security trends. In fact, 46% of businesses nowadays require the use of multi-factor verification to gain access to their corporate accounts. This method requires users to undergo an additional verification process after keying in the password.
There are various forms of multi-factor authentication. You can use mobile authentication apps like Google Authentication and Microsoft Authenticator. It can also be in the form of a one-time PIN sent to emails or smartphones. You can even require an external key to verify logins.
Keeping your business safe
Embracing digital transformation also means dealing with new threats that might affect your business. You need to equip the right tools and knowledge to overcome these risks and enjoy the full benefits of digitization. Keep an eye out for these emerging trends in cyber security so that you will know how to protect your business, customers, and employees in the future.
Fortunately, you can use numerous software solutions to boost your cyber security. So go ahead and explore what technology has to offer.
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