Last year, organizations around the world spent close to $150 billion on cybersecurity. They made these investments because the post-pandemic cybercrime wave continues to surge. Damage from cyberattacks is expected to hit $10.5 trillion annually by 2025—a 300% increase over a decade. If you are in a position of responsibility at any organization, it’s important to understand that you are fighting a cyberwar. You should also know that the fast-growing cybersecurity management industry is developing technology that can help you win.
Whether you run a small-to-midsize business (SMB), a midmarket company, or a large enterprise, now is the time to put technologies in place that will match and beat the sophisticated tactics employed by today’s cybercriminals. These proven methods are cost-effective and can be customized to meet your specific business needs.
Make the Move to Cloud ZTNA
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a cloud-based, multi-level security model that mitigates your security risks by automatically limiting access to network resources. By ensuring that a given user is authorized, ZTNA reduces the number of exposed attack surfaces, thus hardening your defenses. It is also capable of immediately responding to potential threats with virtual patching, shielding security flaws until your code can be updated.
Of course, remote work must be taken into consideration as well. Most companies now have at least a partially distributed workforce. As you may have guessed, the proliferation of remote employees has made network access an issue of paramount concern. As a result, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are transitioning from Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to ZTNA and cloud-based delivery models.
Invest in Endpoint Protection
In cybersecurity terms, every remote computing device that communicates back and forth with your network is an “endpoint,” and each of them makes your network more vulnerable to cyberattack. You will want to be certain that every desktop, laptop, smartphone, tablet, server, workstation, and Internet-of-Things (IOT) device is protected from known and unknown threats, whether the device is online or offline, on-premises or off.
Endpoint Protection as a Service (EPaaS) uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor your endpoints for threats 24/7/365. This service also ensures that your team’s productivity and performance aren’t negatively impacted by complex and cumbersome security requirements.
Outsource your Application Development
The best IT departments spend their days building modern applications to meet business objectives by automating workflows and improving customer experiences. Generally, your developers are building these apps on open-source platforms to limit costs and deliver proven functionality. Cybercriminals can access these same open-source software development kits, and they are very familiar with their vulnerabilities.
By working with an expert outsourced application development team familiar with security issues, you can build cybersecurity directly into your business.
Secure your Wireless Network
When certified wireless networking engineers build a wireless network in today’s threat environment, they optimize to defend against cybercrime tactics that include wardriving, evil twin attacks, piggybacking, wireless sniffing, and shoulder surfing. Unless you are very familiar with all those terms, I recommend contacting a cybersecurity technology management expert about wireless design and implementation.
I hope you found this information helpful. As always, contact us anytime about your technology needs.
Until next time,
Tim
