Four ways organisations can start dealing with security threats better today:
1. Security by design. All too often, security is an afterthought in design. Unless the product is being specifically designed for security purposes, security features are often tacked on toward the end rather than considered as a key element to the design process. According to Gartner, when looking at IoT devices, a consistent security strategy is all but absent. (1) If the industry wants to collectively tackle the cybersecurity problem as more IoT devices come into play, it must make security an integral part of the design process.
2. Drilling down into security in schools. The deficit of cybersecurity professionals needs to be planned for now. Through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, kids can be encouraged to take an interest in these fields in hopes of building a greater pool of trained professionals for the future. The security industry must start working more closely with STEM program developers around the world to highlight the severity of the situation and work to close the cybersecurity gap for future generations.
3. Security awareness in company culture. No software installed on the back end can do its job 100 per cent of the time if people aren’t being cautious on the front end. To start, end-users should be considered frontline troops in the fight against cyberthreats and understand the role they play in preventing cyberattacks. To be successful, organisations should view cybersecurity preparedness as being about more than just work. For example, by offering to help employees build out security practices in their homes, it will naturally create a culture of security awareness.
4. Implement identity access management (IAM). Another key element organisations can look at is IAM. If they are employing IAM solutions, they can limit their risk pool by ensuring that only the right employees have access to the right data at the right times. This means, if one of their employees falls victim to an attack, they would only have limited access to corporate data that could then be locked down quickly, leveraging the IAM solution to sever access entitlements.
George Atrash, director for enterprise security platforms – Australia and New Zealand, Micro Focus said, “The cybersecurity threat landscape is continually evolving, making it critical for the cybersecurity industry to look at the situation holistically, in an effort to outsmart the cybercriminals of today and pace itself to get ahead of potential criminal acts of tomorrow.”
