2020 was the year much of the private sector realized just how dangerous doing business online truly is. With a long list of high-profile ransomware and hacking events that have put everyone on their toes, here’s what companies are doing to up their data security in 2021.
Data Centers
Companies with the budgets to move some or all of their mission-critical data over to places like TRG Datacenters are going to start doing so en masse in 2021. Data centers are more fortified against cybersecurity threats, they are better protected against natural disasters and catastrophic loss and the professional data management they offer far exceeds what a business without in-house IT would be able to provide for themselves and at a much lower cost.
Employee Education
It is a well-recognized fact within the cybersecurity community that the biggest cybersecurity threat and vulnerability at most companies is its people. This is not because there are just that many untrustworthy employees out there. What it comes down to is a lack of awareness. Most people (and many companies, for that matter) don’t have a firm grasp of either the threats or mitigation best practices.
When you factor in the additional threats associated with working from home, and often working from public, unsecured or poorly secured internet connections, it is little wonder so many companies are taking employee cybersecurity education so seriously right now. This includes educating employees on things like the latest phishing and malware trends and techniques, good password protection and data handling practices, and which additional measures they should be taking while working remotely to protect themselves and company data.
Cybersecurity Investments
A recent article from newswire service Cision stated that the cybersecurity spending for critical infrastructure would likely surpass $105 billion USD in 2021, thanks in large part to the growth of the WFH workforce. In addition to a more robust infrastructure, much of the spending will likely take the form of increased payroll for cybersecurity and IT personnel to maintain, monitor and stress test the hardware and software on a regular basis.
Companies are also developing organization-wide data breach and response plans in order to deal with things like ransomware attacks and minimize the associated downtime and potentially business-ending financial damage.
Insurance Policies
The purpose of cyber insurance is to compensate companies in the event of an attack. A slew of high-profile breaches and heists in both the private and public sector over the last several years, and especially last year, has made businesses nervous, and for good reason. One roadblock here, however, is a potential supply-side issue: there may not be enough insurance companies willing to insure against these sort of attacks, given how frequent, unpredictable and sophisticated they are.
Conclusion
Cybercrime is an omnipresent threat now and will continue to be one moving forward. The more we integrate private and economic life with the world wide web, the more opportunities cybercriminals have to infiltrate, steal, manipulate and extort. Fortifying our digital infrastructure and digital lives will require a combination of increased awareness and a lot of money.
