Cybersecurity has been at the forefront of everyone’s agenda for some time now – with good reason. With our day-to-day lives being more and more intertwined with technology, the importance of protecting ourselves and our businesses has never been more crucial.
No Signs of Stopping for Digital Transformation
Digital transformation has been taking the world by storm for years, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down. With developments like AI integrating into larger businesses like Microsoft with their new Copilot tool, smaller organisations globally are following suit to stay competitive and try out these new tools for themselves. Although great for contributing to digital transformation, these developments come hand-in-hand with new cybersecurity considerations.
Cyber threats rank as the most important risk globally for the third year in a row, and they are expected to continue their upward trajectory in 2024. This escalation underpins the importance of cybersecurity measures in protecting digital infrastructures and sensitive information. As technology evolves and becomes more ingrained in our daily lives – both personal and professional – the likelihood of cyberattacks grows.
Evolving Security Measures
Evolving threats mean only one thing: the need for evolving security. From the adoption of MFA to the emergence of passwordless authentication methods and Zero Trust models, new avenues for enhancing security within teams are constantly being explored and implemented.
MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a common method of authentication that requires several ‘factors’ to be provided in order to confirm someone’s identity and therefore authorise access. The likelihood of MFA usage increases with organisation size, but with cyberattacks not discriminating on business size, smaller businesses are starting to see the value in MFA too.
Passwordless Authentication – With traditional passwords not cutting it for the level of today’s tech landscape, other forms of authentication are being used. Relying on biometric data that only the user can provide helps with securing businesses against potential phishing attempts. Nearly one-third of IT departments have already adopted passwordless authentication, and this percentage is only expected to grow as we move further into this year.
Zero Trust – The Zero Trust model operates on a principle of ‘never trust, always verify’, allowing it to adapt to the changing landscape of digital transformation and safeguard all aspects and departments in an organisation. MFA and passwordless authentication both help towards achieving a Zero Trust model, which 58.6% of US and UK SMEs have already set in motion.
New Ways of Working
Flexible remote working and digital collaboration tools have become increasingly common over the last 4 years, offering employees more autonomy across the working world. However, as this means that employees are accessing company data from various locations and devices, the attack threat increases, making new ways of working a large reason why cybersecurity in businesses need to be constantly reviewed.
As digital transformation continues to reshape industries and workflows, educating staff on cybersecurity frequently should always be at the top of your business agenda. Training that is accessible to all staff, no matter their location, will equip them with knowledge and skills needed to identify possible security risks, and keep all departments secure as digital transformations develop further.
In short, for as long as we’re looking for ways to transform how we live and work with new technologies and digital approaches, then there’ll be threats to balance the scales. Where does that leave cybersecurity as a topic? As blazing hot as ever – and not likely to cool off soon.
Want to get an in-depth view of where your business security can be improved? Contact Surveil today to stay on top of security needs in today’s digitally transformative world.
