Securing Your Business Despite the Cybersecurity Skills Gap
According to IBM’s 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report, data breaches cost companies an average of $4.2 million per incident. This is the highest average incident cost the company has ever found in its research, underscoring the seriousness of this new wave of increased ransomware attacks that IT leaders need to be aware of.
With COVID-19 variants are on the rise again remote work is likely to stick around longer than IT leaders anticipated. The result? Greater risk for cyberattacks that carry the potential to expose customer data, reveal company information or even shut down internal operations altogether.
The increase in cybersecurity compromises arrives at a time when cybersecurity expert roles are in high demand—in 2020, there were over three million open cybersecurity positions left unfilled.
Security has become more vital than ever; however, cybersecurity positions grow more difficult to fill every day. Luckily, there are some security best practices enterprises can follow that can be exercised in the absence of cybersecurity experts in-house.
Install Authorization Safeguards ASAP
The Colonial Pipeline hack that occurred in May of this year was caused by a compromised inactive authorized account which allowed cybercriminals to gain access to the system’s data. This is an all-too-common occurrence. Account holes that leave easily exploitable openings for cybercriminals must be addressed ASAP. In fact, four out of five breaches that involved hacking or brute force tactics used employee credentials to enter the system. And three out of four common data security breaches are caused by privilege misuse—when employees have unnecessary levels of access to a system that can be abused by a perpetrator with malicious intent.
Organizations must establish authorization protocols such as multifactor authentication, frequent password changes and least-privilege user access to mitigate the likelihood cybercriminals will have unfettered access to systems. The aftermath of a successful attack often creates fallout that leaves businesses with less confidence about their security, lower trust from their customers and less control over their data.
Use Advanced Encryption Security Methods
Encryption uses complex algorithms to make data or other information into an unreadable cipher unless users have a cryptographic key. Encryption ensures only the intended audience can access the information.
Encryption key management—the process of creating, storing, deleting and destroying encrypted keys—makes secure access to sensitive information possible. By establishing key-encrypted access, information is not saved directly in the system and the key can be changed by the organization at-will.
Without the encryption key, it’s difficult and time-consuming—if not impossible—for bad actors to guess which cipher the sender used to encrypt the message as well as what keys were used as variables—which is why encryption is such a valuable tool to deter cybercriminals.
Solutions that can automatically pre-activate, activate, change and reassign encryption keys are helping organizations of all sizes use this type of complex technology, even without a cybersecurity expert in-house. However, be sure to lean on vendor-neutral trusted advisors who have the resources, network and experience to ensure your encryption key management solution will fit your enterprise’s needs.
Deploy DRaaS (Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service) Solutions
Cybersecurity isn’t just about preparation for or defense against an attack—it also involves considering what to do if an attack is successful. In the event that sensitive information is compromised, a recovery plan or a solution can help mitigate the damage. This is where a disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) solution comes into play; DRaaS replicates server information and digital business operations onto a recovery site, allowing for a backup to replace the main server in the event of an emergency, malfunction or system compromise.
This type of security helps reduce the chances that cybercriminals will cause permanent damage or possess sole ownership of sensitive data. Without it, cybercriminals may hold your data hostage and disrupt business operations, leak sensitive information or destroy the data if their demands are not met.
Although cybersecurity talent is scarce and cyberattacks are at an all-time high, organizations are still able to bolster their security posture by combining proactive security measures with a disaster recovery solution. With a proactive security plan, you can mitigate the likelihood that an attack will be successful and keep your data safe.
