Cyber Security Review for 2020: Looking back at Cyber Security in 2020
Cyber Security Review For 2020
When it comes to cyber security, prevention strategies are far more effective than reactionary measures. So, as cyber threats change with time, organizations must adopt different security strategies and solutions to stay protected.
As a savvy, Information Technology or Information Security Manager you always want to have the best cyber security tools at your disposal for your organization to use as it adapts to emerging cyber-attack approaches. This should enable your organization to identify any vulnerability present in your system that attackers might exploit.
Today, commercial organizations and those in the Government/public sector face constant evolving threat landscapes. Based on these cyber security challenges, these organizations have to plug information security gaps, and also fulfill information security compliance demands.
With every new day comes emergent cyber security threats and trends. And as an industry-leading company, you must prepare yourself for any cyber security threats as they arise.
This cyber security review should provide you with some top predictions, trends, and cyber security vulnerabilities, with a view to helping you stay ahead of threats.
1. The Growth of Alternative Authentication
Password strength and privacy are major security concerns for most organizations and government entities. These issues have persisted since the onset of the internet. There is also a new method of alternative or password-less authentication, which aims to help improve system security.
Alternative authentication solutions like hardware tokens, biometric authentication, unique password generators, and knowledge-based authentication are the newest cyber security solutions for better protection.
One cyber security review from Forbes reveals that passwords are the primary source of over 81% of data breaches. Therefore, replacing passwords with alternative options like password-less authentication removes the responsibility of users to create and remember complex passwords while also employing risk based analysis of the authentication effort. Tthe risk analysis is invisible to authenticating users, helping to maximize security without affecting the user experience.
2. Cyber Insurance
Demand for cyber insurance continues to grow. According to a 2019 cyber security study, the total losses associated with cyber-attacks was $3.92 million as of 2019. Therefore, it is no surprise organizations are always looking for new damage reducing measures to minimize cyber threats.
The above study results indicate that cyber-attacks and extortion continue to wreak havoc in the digital economy. Despite a need for coverage, insurance companies continue to struggle, especially when adapting to the ever-changing cyber risks.
Another challenge for organizations includes the increasingly vital role the IoT is playing. These gadgets create more information security issues since the emergence of more connected devices doesn’t make the task of securing a firm’s IT infrastructure any easier. Even so, this lag creates several opportunities for updated insurance coverage and models.
3. Cloud-Based Security Expansion
As businesses move larger amounts of technology infrastructure into the cloud, it becomes a more preferred target for cyber-attacks. Many businesses will move more applications to the cloud within the next few years.
Cloud-based information security affords organization numerous advantages over legacy approaches such as:
- Minimizing costs
- Economies of scale
- Increased threat intelligence
- Faster security compliance with government and industry standards
- Better protection performance
These features make cyber security an appealing investment as it forms part of an already growing security platform.
Trending Cyber Security Threats
With speedy technological changes, cyber criminals still continue to develop innovative strategies that exploit vulnerabilities and other security protections. Therefore, you must first understand the common threats you might face to keep your data and systems secure.
- Growing remote and hybrid workers
In reaction to COVID related office shutdowns, companies shifted workers to a work from home model. Now as businesses start to resume office operations, a hybrid model of office and work from home exists. This type of distributed workforce adds new risks that must be actively managed including the type of connection to systems, authentication methods, securing BYOD devices and more.
- Insecure Mobile Devices
Mobile device protection has become a major concern in the cyber security industry. It is not uncommon for employees to add company emails and other sensitive information to their smartphones.
Most cyber security issues arise when your employee connects to a public Wi-Fi network. This exposes the smartphone to cyber-attacks. Instant messaging services and important business credentials are always the most prone in this case.
- Shared Logins and Lack of Device Controls
Unfortunately, not all employees restrict access to their work computers when not using them. Unauthorized parties can access personal information on these devices, which can harm the business itself.
- Mismanagement of Passwords and Permissions
Any cyber security review that addresses cyber threats will always cite mismanagement of passwords as one of the leading causes of information leak.
You must remain vigilant on how your employees manage and use your company passwords and permissions. Always restrict improper use or limit access permissions to crucial data—more so to unauthorized personnel.
- Careless Social Media Use
This can be attributed to employees accessing social media sites using the company’s computers and networks. Not only can this provide a pathway into company systems, misuse of social media can also reveal sensitive information and allow a nefarious actor to gather personal details to use in a social engineering effort. Your social media use policy should clearly define your rules for social media use and restrict/regulate downloading files from social media platforms.
Push to the Edge
The digital age we live in forces all organizations to implement security anywhere and everywhere. It must be distributed to end-users, cloud services, and the billions of devices. This cyber security review brings to light the need to use top-of-the-line infrastructure to support your security strategies and platforms.
Get in Touch with SCA
Need more information and assistance guarding your organization against cybersecurity threats it may face? SCA provides information security assessment and advisory services including penetration testing and risk assessments to help you identify, reduce and manage cyber risks. Download our Breach Notification Guide to learn more about what your state demands in the event of a data breach incident.
