The threat landscape for the enterprise is always evolving, however, there are some trends that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. These trends, as well as new and emerging issues, pose a significant threat to businesses around the world. As your organization’s CIO, you need to take responsibility for the continued protection of critical data; because if you don’t, nobody will.
Here are five significant trends that CIOs absolutely need to consider when building a security strategy for their organization:
Internet of Things Adoption will Dramatically Expand the Threat Landscape
The Internet of Things, a collective term for connected consumer devices, poses a significant threat to any business that isn’t prepared for it. Many IoT devices are little more than web-connected devices that offer notifications for social media accounts while others are full-fledged fitness accessories that are worn non-stop for health reasons. Regardless of their purpose, unregulated devices (especially those that are unsecured) will pose a problem for your organization. In a recent poll by Centrify, it was found that 34 percent of respondents claimed that a lack of IT management was a major concern for wearable devices, and 69 percent of wearable owners have no login protection whatsoever on their devices. Remember, all it takes is one unsecured device to compromise a network.
The Ability to Protect will Progressively Be Compromised
Organizations might be doing all that they can to eliminate traditional data breaches, but how effective are these measures when hackers can bypass them using stolen administrative credentials? Hackers that have stolen identity credentials are capable of bypassing security systems, making all of your hard work be for naught. This presents a unique need for additional security features, like two-factor authentication, biometric security, and identity confirmation tools, that are designed to help businesses ensure that those logging in with administrator credentials are who they say they are.
A High Likelihood of Disloyal Employees
Businesses often focus on protecting sensitive data from external threats, but a significant amount of trouble can come from internal threats, as well. Surprisingly, one of the most concerning developments is the fact that insider threats are so common – a survey from Sailpoint claims that one in five employees would be willing to hand over sensitive information, and another 30 percent would sell their passwords to willing buyers. These high numbers don’t even include those who may accidentally reveal their information to malicious sources, which means that employers need to be extremely cautious of insider threats at all times. One way that this issue can be resolved is through role-based data access, which can limit employees’ access to sensitive credentials in an attempt to limit the damage done by unexpected hacking attacks.
Open-Source Vulnerabilities and Security Certificate Issues
When you think of open-source software, you’d do well to remember the lessons that Heartbleed, Poodle, and Shellshock taught about its use. Most important of all, Heartbleed, which left a whopping 66 percent of the Internet vulnerable to a bug that allowed the theft of data, even when protected by SSL/TLS, showed that open-source software is just as vulnerable to threats as any other type of software. Security is something that’s built and reinforced, not implied. In general, however, the aging infrastructure of the Internet may be susceptible to other types of attacks like this in the future.
Security of Mobile Devices and Data Access
There’s no denying that mobility is helping businesses, but one of the key concerns surrounding it is data security. Businesses need to ensure that they’re keeping data secure, but this can also hamper the mobility of an organization’s data. A study by Dell reports that 82 percent of IT decision makers limit data access in an attempt to improve security while InformationWeek reports that around 65 percent of organizations are limiting going mobile precisely because of security discrepancies. In order to effectively leverage mobile technology for your business, consider how it’s being used, and integrate a security strategy that revolves around your organization’s specific needs.
How does your organization handle these security concerns? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.
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