With a multiplicity of end-user devices, including smartphones, watches, tablets, and others becoming increasingly integrated. Eventually, all of them will likely have the ability to connect to each other – the potential dangers due to hacking and other cybersecurity attacks will certainly increase. For example, an FBI report revealed that from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cybercrimes have increased over 300%, where between 3,000 and 4,000 cybersecurity complaints were received each day – a major jump from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, when about 1,000 complaints were received daily. And according to INTERPOL, in the past 20 years, the cybercrimes they investigate have risen from zero to 70% of all cases.
The multitudes of cyberthreats in today’s digital environment are often more sophisticated than the IT networks and systems they target. Much of this has to do with legacy systems. According to a recent McKinsey report, “more than half of operational technology (OT) environments tested in one study had versions of Windows for which Microsoft is no longer providing security patches [and] fully 69% had passwords traversing OT networks in plain text.” And it’s essential to guard against email phishing scams.
For instance, after reviewing data from 41,686 security incidents and 2,013 data breaches, a 2019 Verizon report found that 94% of all malware is delivered by email.
Initiate a cyber protection plan now!
In order to counteract this alarming trend, companies of all sizes – including managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security services providers (MSSPs) alike – will have to initiate comprehensive cyber protection plans. During the pandemic, there has been an unprecedented migration from traditional offices to work-from-home and other remote workplaces, which has created an existential crisis of additional exposure to cyberattacks. With its lockdowns and other measures to restrict a population’s mobility, the pandemic has resulted in a seismic shift from traditional crime to cybercrime, which has left many organizations that had to reinvent employees’ work spaces in rapid fashion ill-prepared to mitigate the many threats posed by cybercriminals.
Traditional corporate security, with its in-house networks protected by firewalls, software and hardware solutions, and highly skilled teams of security and system administrators, has resulted in employees escaping the safe confines of these defensive measures and have often become unwitting victims in this cyber contagion. And the trend continues to grow exponentially.
Cyber protection – the advantages it provides.
Cyber protection is more than just cybersecurity – it goes beyond preventative methods and system restoration. On the other hand, cyber protection is a fully-integrated system of functions that are executed for a given cyberattack that augment a company’s defenses.
There are five key functions that serve to provide both cybersecurity and data protection. These functions employ advanced technology to not only intercept an attempted attack, but to protect a company’s data, and, if an attack were to be successful, provide backup and protection management, including forensics.
The five pillars of cyber protection.
The five essential functions integrated into a comprehensive cyber protection scheme include prevention, detection, recovery, response, and forensics. Its cybersecurity together with data backup and recovery, and endpoint protection management.
- Prevention involves the mitigation of potential threats and the prevention of attacks. In the modern remote working environment, collaboration apps (e.g., Zoom) are considered to have the weakest threshold against hacking. An ideal cyber protection program would ensure that these apps are all protected against vulnerabilities; that those vulnerabilities are assessed regularly and that any found receive fail-safe patching.
2. Detection concerns scanning full-disk backups at a centralized location to help find potential vulnerabilities and malware infections – ensuring that users are able to restore a malware-free backup.
3. Fast response can prevent system and network downtime and data loss. A well-deployed response plan can monitor the security landscape and alert an organization of potential threats, as well as adjust the plan based on the alerts received. These smart alerts can prompt more frequent backups, deeper AV scans, and specific patch installs, resulting in greater protection.
4. A solid recovery program would integrate anti-malware scans and antivirus updates into the recovery process. After all, backed-up datа can be infected with malware. Applying the latest antivirus definitions along with anti-malware scans of backup images would enable users to restore a malware-free OS image, thereby reducing the chance of a reoccurring infection.
5. Forensics is a critical component in helping to short-circuit and reduce the severity and frequency of cyberattacks. As with the traditional investigation of a crime scene, cyber forensics seeks to scan the aftermath of a hacking operation and find the cause and/or the perpetrators. Prompt and precise investigations require tools such as forensic-rich backups, where vital data and other information required for analysis in an investigation is preserved. Key evidence would be secured in backups, and in turn, this would make future investigations easier and less costly.
Simplify your IT framework.
What are some of the important first steps that need to be accomplished in moving toward cyber-protection? To make those recommendations, an organization or business has to first look at problems that exist in plain sight. A mismatch of solutions or tools leaves security gaps/overlaps and places an undue resource burden on your employees and processes – requiring complex and complicated licensing, deployment and training, etc. Closing integration and automation gaps will help immensely toward a robust cyber protection program.
Why is a timely cyber protection plan essential?
We should all be aware of the disastrous and expensive consequences cyberattacks have leveled against individuals, organizations, companies, and governments – as well as their dramatic increases in frequency and scope.
Aside from the costs incurred from downtime, ransomware, and loss of productivity, another, less well-known consequence of such breaches is loss of “digital trust.” IT professionals and MSPs need to reduce and manage client risk and build trust while they fight complexity, security, and operational costs. Companies are only as profitable – not to mention viable – as their reputations in the business community. When cyberattacks adversely affect an organization – whether it be once, or multiple times – public trust erodes.
People rarely see the herculean efforts it takes to keep networks and systems safe. But they are keenly aware when they fail. A responsible organization with a well-conceived and implemented cyber protection regimen will constantly apply patches, monitor multiple screens, and try to stay one step ahead of cybersecurity threats.