As 2021 dawns, cybersecurity is at the forefront of concerns for modern businesses. With hackers expanding their resources by developing new ways to get past protections and nab sensitive data, businesses must be more vigilant than ever in protecting and securing their data.
However, this task will become more difficult in the coming year as many in-house IT departments are still struggling under the shift to remote and hybrid workspaces, reducing their ability to respond quickly to evolving threats.
The transformation of business operations from the traditional office-based workplace to remote or hybrid situations has fostered new dependency on collaborative technologies.
This expansion includes technologies such as video conferencing and interactive whiteboards and the accompanying proliferation of data has forced more companies to consider cloud-based environments for data storage.
Protecting those assets along with the onus of securing remote workers will top the list of priorities for many organizations, particularly since the remote environment presents a prime opportunity for hackers to tap into insufficiently secured devices.
How to Be Successful at Securing Data in the Coming Year
The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect on work and business processes — a disruption that has extended into the security environment.
Combined with advances in technology such as 5G and the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), this disruption has prompted a number of cybersecurity trends to emerge.
- Hackers are Targeting Remote Workers
The coronavirus precipitated the decentralization of the office space, sending workers to home offices where they are relying on technologies such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), email, video conferencing, and desktop virtualization to stay connected with colleagues and clients.
While this move bore fruit for many companies in terms of heightened productivity and lowered overhead costs, it also created an inviting attack landscape for cybercriminals.
Your recipe for security success in the remote workforce? Secure your VPN infrastructure and ensure all soft- and hardware is meticulously maintained and updated.
- Ransomware Will Continue to Be Problematic
In 2020, cybersecurity specialists saw a greater than 900% increase in cyberattacks from the previous year, and that isn’t likely to slow down in 2021.
Every breach can have a significant and lasting effect on your business by directly impacting finances, revenue, and reputation.
The solution? Educate all users on good cyber hygiene, including how to identify malicious links in emails and other communications. Concentrate on security protocols such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication and access control and ensure recovery from attacks by leveraging redundant, secure backups.
- Cloud Security is a Priority
As more businesses leverage the convenience of a cloud-based environment to keep workers connected and data more secure, hackers are discovering new ways to target data in the cloud.
Even some of the best features of the cloud such as expanded flexibility can be the very element that allows bad actors to gain access.
Hackers typically launch persistence attacks, for example using a bad shell script that has been passed to the cloud, they can gain connection and move laterally in the server to steal data, identities, and privileges.
Bad bots are another emerging threat that can enslave infrastructure in the cloud, stealing data, scraping content, running DDOS attacks, and crypto mining.
Preemptive security is key here, with misconfiguration discovery and resolution imperative to keep data safe.
RJ Young Provides Cybersecurity Solutions You Can Count On
At RJ Young, we understand how difficult it can be for our business clients, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to not only keep up with technology but also ensure their infrastructure is both updated — and secure.
And as we move into the new year, greater emphasis is being placed on cybersecurity systems that can evolve and scale alongside your business.
“That is why we have developed a comprehensive Managed IT services suite that can provide targeted assistance in assessing, designing, deploying, and maintaining an infrastructure of hard- and software that will both meet your business needs and goals and keep your data protected,” said Harris Delchamps, RJ Young Technology Solutions Sales Manager.
These services help relieve the burden of constant patching and updating on your internal IT team or, if you lack an in-house department, our team of experts can provide the deep knowledge and leading-edge technology you need to be digitally connected — and protected.
Bring the power and protection of state-of-the-art cybersecurity to your business today. Touch base with an RJ Young consultant and let our team of cybersecurity experts help manage and protect your IT infrastructure.