The number of disruptions affecting businesses is rising, with cyber risks leading the cause. It has become crucial for businesses to make sure they are completely up to date with the latest trends, threats, and risks to their cybersecurity heading into 2021.
The main theme of 2020 has been ‘disruption’. Even though businesses are used to some level of constant change, the pandemic impacted the world in ways no one could have foreseen. As a result, businesses had to strategize, adapt, and change.
Organizations have to be resilient enough to withstand all kinds of disruptions, technology-related or natural disasters. Embracing cybersecurity trends well in advance can help organizations to be better prepared to reduce security exposures. It will help them stay ahead of their competitors and gain a strategic advantage.
“Digital disruption is ripping industries apart as cloud-native developers drive blazingly fast innovation to market,” said Brendan Hannigan, CEO of Sonrai Security. “This disruption also will tear apart traditional security teams. The old IT, device focused, manual, and IP centric security world is irrelevant in this new world. Top security teams will be reinvented with automation, cloud, and DevOps taking centre stage,” he adds.
Remote Networks to be the Centre of Attacks
During the pandemic, enterprises shifted to remote work with no warning. Businesses, along with local governments, have had to face many hardships. Cyber-attacks skyrocketed during the lockdown, and it happened due to the use of unsecured home networks.
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With remote work becoming the norm, remote networks will likely be one of the major targets in 2021. There will be huge risks to data breaches and businesses will need IT support and proper guidelines to shape a secure remote working environment.
Some of the attacks are caused by human error and a lack of knowledge. Hence, cybersecurity awareness training for employees becomes crucial to secure networks and devices and to recognize red flags. It can go a long way in preventing hacks, identity thefts, and malware that can leave an organization vulnerable.
Attacks on IoT Devices to Increase
IoT deployment is expected to rise in 2021. The adoption of IoT will significantly increase in homes, offices, and other domains. And with this shift, businesses will also see a rise in cyber threats in the coming year, as IoT devices are vulnerable spots to disrupt, making them the prime target for hackers.
However, organizations can minimize the risks associated with IoT with round-the-clock data monitoring and a security-by-design approach.
Focus on Advanced Cloud Security
In 2021, a large number of businesses will consider shifting to the cloud as it has proven to be affordable, efficient, and productive, and also cut operational expenses while keeping the data secure.
As the cloud becomes the most sought-after solution, it will bring new threats in the space. With massive data coming over the cloud, the services might fail to offer audit logging, standard encryption, and other security features.
Paul Colwell, CTO at OGL Computer and CyberGuard Technologies, says, “2021 will see further growth in the need for “visibility” of network activity. Software developments such as the use of AI, high-performing integrated cybersecurity dashboards, real-time and cloud monitoring as well as regularly scheduled internal checks by specialists will allow the effective monitoring, tracking and response to network events”.
“The security of cloud data will increasingly become the responsibility of the user. Two-factor authentication for VPNs and Office 365 access will be a must. And, as in 2020, the popularity of next-generation anti-virus services such as Carbon Black and Kaspersky AV will grow with the need for enhanced security for off-network devices”, he adds.
In 2021, along with Cloud security, organizations will add predictive cloud security to their cybersecurity plan. Predictive cloud security helps organizations to determine threats ahead of time.
Zero-Trust Security Measures
The data flow on the cloud is expected to be massive in 2021. Therefore, for ultimate protection, traditional security is not enough. Organizations will increasingly adopt the concept of zero-trust security in 2021.
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Zero trust security calls for authorization and strong identification when it comes to user access. This form of security model needs constant security validation at every level to block security breaches and unwanted access. In the near future, many organizations will accept and significantly follow the zero-trust security model.
Adoption of Multi-factor Authentication
In 2021, organizations will apply multi-factor authentication for better access control as it requires various identifications to validate access. It needs a password, biometric identification, and a user name to allow user access. With multi-factor authentication, it is daunting for hackers to breach a system’s security.
The coronavirus pandemic has cast a long shadow on society, but if there’s a silver lining to the crisis, it’s that there are also valuable lessons to be learned from it.
