There are some certainties in our current world.
One of them is that cybersecurity is on the mind of most leaders today. You’ve seen the headlines: hackers have done substantial damage to businesses of all sizes and across a range of industries. No individual or business is immune.
Keep in mind that cybersecurity is not a new threat. Hackers have been pulling from their bag of tracks for decades, and are constantly finding new ways to obtain valuable information. But this threat has become more pronounced with the COVID-19 pandemic by moving a huge segment of employees to remote working environments.
The media has shared myriad numbers over the past year – all are huge and indicate a substantial increase in cyberattacks since March of 2020. Companies are more exposed than ever and Financial Services, for obvious reasons, is a prime target industry. Where we see less certainty in our world, however, is how companies are prioritizing cybersecurity.
For some, the degree and speed cybersecurity has moved up in importance is rapid, and locking down the security of a firm has catapulted right up the list of “must-dos”. Yet for other companies, it remains much lower on the list and is more of a “we’ll get to it when we get to” priority as other day-to-day tasks are top of mind.
But a lackadaisical or even passive attitude to cybersecurity is not recommended at this point (or, quite frankly, ever). Cybersecurity requires a proactive, ongoing approach. And to ensure all needed steps are taken to provide a comprehensive solution for a firm, the trifecta of people, processes, and technologies must be viewed and reviewed.
People
Every single employee, contractor, and vendor within an organization must understand the importance of a proactive approach to cybersecurity. The topic should be a part of the onboarding process for new employees and must be included in the company handbook. The urgency of attention to this topic cannot be overstressed, as it has an impact on all stakeholders of an organization. We will say this until it becomes cliché: cybersecurity is not just a concern of the IT department.
As well, senior leaders must ensure that they keep cybersecurity an important part of their ongoing internal and external communications, and it must be abundantly clear to employees, clients, etc. that the firm is doing everything in its power to ward off cyberattacks. Every employee must embrace the idea that he or she must do their part to keep the company and its data safe.
Processes
A company must have a strategy and a plan of attack when a data breach does happen, or when a vulnerability is exposed. This is a time when experts must be at the ready to determine the steps to take when a catastrophic event occurs, and must have a roadmap for how communications will take place in the aftermath.
A clear path to recovery is also important, with a debriefing of lessons learned across the entire organization. The companies that handle data breaches optimally are the ones that are transparent and honest, and also look to fix the issues moving forward. What has happened has happened, but find out where the breakdown occurred and don’t let it happen again.
Technology
Technology is a critical piece in the cybersecurity puzzle today, as it can work as a shield and protect a company’s data assets. The best technology solution will be flexible enough to take into account the remote nature of our workforce and the need for employees to remain highly productive, while at the same time protecting sensitive applications and data. For many companies, there has been the unfortunate choice of productivity vs. security.
It remains impossible to anticipate every threat that will challenge a company. As our work rapidly evolves, the best course of action is to be aware and know what to do when trouble strikes, and to accept that the bag of tricks a cybercriminal holds is continuously updated. We’ll say it again: companies must be on guard 24/7, and cybersecurity must be top of mind for every employee.
Best of all worlds solution
Venn empowers users to work productively on personal and remote devices, all while keeping data secure and inaccessible to the outside world.
How does it work? Simply put, Venn’s Zero Trust Platform embraces a cloud environment to more efficiently combine a local, personal computer experience with cloud data, all while wrapping data and sensitive information in a secure perimeter.
Where ever the topic of cybersecurity falls on your priority list right now (and hopefully it is high on your list or rapidly moving in that direction, for the sake of all your stakeholders), we’d love to talk more about the need for productivity, the need for the highest degree of security, and our solution.
