Reasons Behind the Growing Importance of Cybersecurity Among Employers

First things first, let’s understand why cybersecurity has become crucial for employers all around the world. Is it just cyberattacks? Or there is more to it? Scroll down and see for yourself.

• Data is important for any and every company.

Cybersecurity measures can help safeguard a business's data from theft, unauthorized access, and other forms of cybercrime. This protection is critical as data breaches can lead to significant financial losses, litigation, and loss of customer trust.

• Responsibility & Compliance.

Many industries, such as healthcare and finance, have regulations that require businesses to implement cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data. Failing to comply with these regulations can lead to hefty fines and legal liability. This has contributed to an increase in the possibility of technologically-sound people who can secure a job in cybersecurity domain.

• Networking.

Cybersecurity incidents like ransomware attacks can disrupt the operations of businesses, causing significant downtime and financial loss. Robust cybersecurity measures can help prevent these attacks and ensure business continuity.

So, since we are well-versed in the reasons why employers find cybersecurity important, let’s move to the trends that all business owners should be aware of in current times.

The Spectacular Seven Cybersecurity Trends

Cybertech has compiled a list of seven spectacular trends that every business owner needs to contemplate to keep cyber threats at bay. These include:

1. Remote employee cybersecurity training against potential tags.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to shift towards remote work. While this is convenient and effective for many organizations, it can also leave your business more vulnerable to data breaches and leaks. 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. As more devices are connected to the internet in the “created workspace” of these remotely-working employees, the potential attack surface for cybercriminals increases. And this is how remotely working employees become the weakest link in cybersecurity, inadvertently clicking on malicious links or using weak passwords. Tech experts, as a result, are suspecting that because of the ongoing WFH culture, we might see a greater emphasis on securing IoT devices, especially as they become more prevalent in critical infrastructure. This calls for a more secure infrastructure in the office types of equipment put to use as well as cybersecurity training for employees. Additionally, one must consider planning for the long-term security of your virtual workplaces as businesses continue to move towards digitization. To counter this, the Central government has devoted a decent chunk to cybersecurity budget in 2023. In the same vein, cybersecurity companies are increasingly incorporating AI and machine learning into their products to detect and respond to threats more quickly and accurately. One might see even more advanced uses of AI and machine learning for cybersecurity, including the use of predictive analytics to anticipate and prevent attacks before they occur, in the future.

2. Cloud and IoT security.

As mentioned above, as more devices are connected to the internet, the potential attack surface for cybercriminals increases. In the past 5 years, more and more businesses had started investing in cloud services. 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 security protocols. After all, cloud security processes should be a shared responsibility between you and your cloud service provider. 

Read More: What Businesses Need to Know About the National Cybersecurity Strategy?

3. Invest in technology that can provide security against ransomware threats. 

Ransomware is one of the top cyber security threats to any organization. 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 for 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. Increasing demand for visibility. 

As per tech experts, a business takes an average of 277 days to spot and address a breach. 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. 

5. Phishing, phishing, and phishing!

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, phishing attacks became more widespread. A recent tech report had shown that out of all the emails businesses receive annually, about 83% were phishing emails. 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. One 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 controllers, and identity and access management software.

6. A Zero-trust Approach against the “Insider Threats”.

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, a huge percentage of cyberattacks are from the inside and are getting more frequent day by day. 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.

7. Need for an integral 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. 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.