Cybersecurity Trends Digital Businesses Need to Keep an Eye on

With the rise of technology in the business sector, several companies transferred to the digital market in hopes of harnessing its vast potential. As a result, most of the confidential and private company data is stored digitally in the modern business world. While this has brought several benefits to companies, such as more efficient business operations, it has also led to security issues. 

Cybercriminals have seen the rise of digital business as an opportunity to attack businesses and steal or destroy highly important data. However, even a single cyberattack can lead to the downfall of a company, as it causes financial issues as well as a loss of reputation. Therefore, it’s crucial for companies to keep themselves up-to-date with cybersecurity trends, to thrive in the modern business age. So, to help you with this purpose, here are some cybersecurity trends you should be aware of as a digital business.

Professional cybersecurity guidance

Over the years, cybercriminals have significantly advanced in their techniques of causing data breaches. Consequently, cybersecurity has evolved in complexity overtime to counter the clever techniques of cybercriminals. To effectively protect your company from cyberattacks, simple knowledge or plug-and-play security solutions are now no longer enough. It’s crucial to get professional cybersecurity guidance to understand how your company might be under threat and how you can avoid cyberattacks. It’s not surprising that many businesses now hire IT and cybersecurity teams to develop foolproof digital security plans. Expert cybersecurity guidance may also help a company divert an ongoing cyberattack and take the right security measures to reduce the potential damage.

Perhaps the best way to gain professional cybersecurity guidance is to become an expert yourself. Doing so will help you gain a deeper insight into the complex concepts of cybersecurity and effectively prevent any cyberattacks towards your digital business. Gaining a master’s degree in cybersecurity is the best decision you can make for this purpose. Not to mention, you can pursue this degree online at your own pace with ease. So, make sure to enroll in an online masters cyber security and reinforce the security of your business.

Employee training

In recent years, social engineering attacks such as phishing have not only grown in number but have also become smarter with several variations. For example, a few years back, you would’ve been able to identify a fake email requesting confidential information. However, now it’s almost impossible to distinguish a fake email from an authentic one. As a result, cybercriminals often easily manipulate company employees into giving away credentials and sensitive company data. In addition, social engineering attacks such as scareware and baiting are even more challenging to avoid for inexperienced employees. 

Therefore, companies have started to provide cybersecurity training to their employees to reduce the threat of social engineering attacks. Basic knowledge of scams and social engineering cyberattacks can help employees act cautiously with the messages they receive online. As a result, cyberattack attempts through emails or SMS can be identified immediately, allowing companies to take action and protect digital resources.

Anti-malware software

Alongside social engineering attacks, cybercriminals have a variety of ways to steal or destroy company data. One of the most effective and dangerous ways is by using malware, which refers to malicious software. 

Once it makes its way into company systems and applications, malware can easily destroy or steal data. Spyware, viruses, bots, and adware are all used by cybercriminals to cause damage to company systems. However, one of the most concerning malware is ransomware. Such software can hold a company’s data until it pays a large sum for its release. Even after payment, the data is still destroyed or lost in worse cases. What’s even more concerning is that ransomware attacks have increased by 148% in recent years. 

In such a situation, a cybersecurity trend that all companies have adopted is anti-malware software and systems. This security measure involves using security software that can scan systems for malware and quarantine it as soon as possible. This reduces the threat of ransomware significantly. You can also use effective firewalls to monitor company systems’ incoming and outgoing internet traffic.

Multifactor authentication

Passwords and passcodes help protect company data and carry out safe financial transactions or deposits, but only to an extent. With cybercriminals rapidly evolving their hacking strategies and techniques, simple passwords are now no longer enough to ensure the safety of company data. Many of the passwords being used by companies are often guessed or bypassed by attackers to gain unauthorized access to digital resources. 80% of data breaches occur due to poor passwords. However, multifactor authentication has emerged as an effective solution to this problem.

Unlike passwords, multifactor authentication systems require people to pass through multiple authorization steps to ensure the authenticity of the accessor. For example, the first step usually includes a password followed by a verification SMS or email to the person trying to access company data. With multiple authentication methods, it’s almost impossible for cybercriminals to bypass security systems and gain unauthorized access. 

Automated security

Several cybercriminals have adopted AI to run automated cyberattacks, doing significant damage to countless companies. However, fortunately, cybersecurity advancements are not at all far behind. AI software has been developed for automated security systems for digital businesses. Due to its vast potential in cybersecurity, AI security has quickly become a popular cybersecurity trend. 

AI can analyze large amounts of data at once to find and neutralize cybersecurity threats such as malware as soon as possible. Unlike simple anti-malware software, AI is intelligent and can find even the most advanced ransomware and other malware software. Moreover, AI software is also helpful in risk calculation and predicting data breaches. This can help companies take the right security measures in advance and possibly prevent highly dangerous cyberattacks. What’s best about AI is that it can learn over time and adapt to the cyberattacks it encounters. As a result, it can improve the overall security of your digital business as time passes, eventually leading to a foolproof system. 

Conclusion

Considering the rise in cyberattacks in recent years, it’s impossible for a digital business to survive in the modern age without effective cybersecurity measures. It doesn’t take long for cybercriminals to take advantage of vulnerable companies, leading to significant financial losses. So, make sure to keep up with cybersecurity trends such as those mentioned above for a secure future for your business.