Top 3 Hottest Issues in Cybersecurity
It seems that not a week goes by without some sort of breach or major attack in the news. Once a cyber attack hits it seems to spread like wildfire. Just look at WannaCry and a month later Petya. Thousands of organizations were affected. We’re all feeling the heat in every industry from banking, to healthcare, and even manufacturing. So what exactly is bringing the heat when it comes to cyber security? We’ve seen a rise in temperature in three key areas.
Here’s what’s hot in cybersecurity:
Malware/Ransomware
Here’s why it’s hot:
Malware/Ransomware attacks give those creepy criminals a lot of gain. Using a cybercrime tactic like ransomware almost guarantees a monetary advance for these guys.
For financial institutions, chief risk officers have identified cyber-threats as their top priority for 2017. This issue is boiling especially when it comes down to audit time. If you don’t have resources dedicated to security and fighting cyber-attacks you are sure to get hammered during your audit.
And the healthcare industry isn’t immune to high temperatures either. According to a recent report the healthcare industry experiences at minimum one cyber-attack a month.
All in all, no matter what industry you’re in you are not immune.
Here’s what you do to cool it down
First, grab some wings and ranch. Then, take a deep breath. No matter what industry you’re in, realize no one is immune from an attack.
Being in the security industry for over a decade, we’ve learned one very important lesson: Develop a proactive plan with layers of protection and ensure one of those layers is reactive and includes remediation – just in case.
Third-Party/Vendor Risk
Here’s why it’s hot:
A survey by the Ponemon Institute found that more than 41% of surveyed companies sustained a data breach caused by a third party. Your secret sauce, employee information or even financial information could be in the hands of someone else. Third-party risk is a security function as well as a compliance requirement.
If the infamous Target breach didn’t make you see the light, your vendors could be waiting for their chance to make you feel the fire. Like Ransomware/Malware no one industry is immune from attack.
Healthcare organizations now more than ever rely on vendors, suppliers, and other third parties to facilitate billing, data management and infrastructure, and other clinical services. With the volume of electronic medical data traveling across these third parties, healthcare organizations are facing unprecedented risk.
And manufacturing? Don’t think for a second your HVAC guy doesn’t want to steal your secret sauce and sell it to a competitor to make his riches.
Here’s what you do to cool it down
Grab a glass of water and don’t trust ANYBODY.
That was a joke. Here’s what you should really do:
First, ask your vendors different questions. Each vendor is unique not all vendors are created equally. Let’s face it, some companies ask their Cloud service provider the same questions as their event caterer. The Cloud is storing your precious crown jewels … not serving you food.
Prioritize what you’re asking your vendors. You don’t need to ask them their name if you’ve been working together for 20 plus years.
Skip the email chains and time-consuming spreadsheets. There are solutions available that automate the collection of third-party information in a secure and scalable way.
Cloud Security
Here’s why it’s hot:
According to a recent survey 90 percent of organizations are very or moderately concerned about public cloud security. There is a lot of unknown when it comes to the Cloud and it’s easy to fear security when visibility and protecting data is of high importance.
We’ve never talked to a company that didn’t dramatically underestimate the number of Cloud services in use by their employees. A recent study conducted by Netskope, shows Shadow IT continues to grow as the average number of Cloud services in use per enterprise rose to 1,071 up 4% from the prior quarter.
Some Cloud services are very secure; others, not so much. The variance in Cloud application security can be very risky if you aren’t choosing the right ones. Or even worse, letting your employees choose them for you.
Here’s what you do to cool it down:
Neutralize the pain and grab a lemon slice, or just look into a CASB product.
Implementing a CASB product can put the fire out. We’ve helped clients choose the appropriate service that works practically in their environment. An effective CASB platform will provide visibility and allow your team to make the right security choices. The Cloud and your CASB platform should work the way you expect it to.