Top Cybersecurity Concerns for 2021
Good cybersecurity policy and execution is always a top priority for experts working in the IT support industry. Protecting companies’ networks and data is a constant task that requires vigilance and rigorous work. IT support professionals cannot simply set up a cybersecurity problem. The experts need to evolve and stay on top of cybersecurity threats as they continue to threaten businesses everywhere. With the increase in digital activity since the rise of COVID and massive move towards work-from-home setups, staying on top of major cybersecurity threats is more important than ever in 2021.
Ransomware Attacks on the Rise
One of the more heinous and more popular forms of cyberattack in the current climate is the ransomware attack. Ransomware is when a piece of malware locks down your network or device and prevents you from accessing it, telling you to pay a certain amount of money to an anonymous hacker to get them to reopen it for you. Ransomware accounted for the vast majority of financial hacks in 2020, and it does not look like the trend is going downwards for 2021. IT support professionals are preparing for a difficult year in preventing and responding to these ransomware attacks.
Internal Issues Can Be Costly
Sometimes it isn’t only attacks from the outside that your IT support team has to make cybersecurity preparations for. Unfortunately, employee errors can cause major technical issues for your company if you don’t have redundancies and appropriate proactive measures in place to prevent fatal errors. Humans are going to make mistakes. It’s natural and should be expected to happen. While you can’t make employees perfect, you can have processes and policies in place that keep your network and computers safe even in the case of an unfortunate user error.
Proactive Vs. Reactive Security
A major shift that businesses need to make moving forward is shifting their approach from reactive cybersecurity to proactive cybersecurity. A reactive approach involves simply trying to plug holes and fix vulnerabilities as others discover them, only making changes once there’s already a costly problem. Reacting to data breachers, malware attacks and disastrous software bugs is part of this approach. However, there has been an important shift towards making sure IT support departments are using a proactive approach where they actively investigate and discover weaknesses regularly, identifying what could be a problem before it becomes costly. This shift needs to continue in 2021 to tighten network security at companies everywhere.
Data Breaches
We hear it in constantly in the news. There always seems to be a major data breach exposing the users and paying customers of large businesses and online services. In 2019 and 2020, over 16 billion records were exposed in data breaches. There’s no reason to believe the onslaught of malicious actors going after people’s sensitive data is going to stop anytime soon. IT support professionals handling the cybersecurity of companies everywhere need to be prepared. The reality is that the threat is constant and they are protecting the sensitive data of real people whose lives could be turned upside down by their data getting into the wrong hands.
Cybersecurity risks are as big of a concern for IT in 2021 as they have ever been. If you want to make sure your business is properly prepared, reach out to FullScope IT today.
