The New Year brings a whole host of new trends and movements for all industry sectors, and the world of cybersecurity is no different.
With the modern workplace continually evolving as we negotiate our new normal post-lockdown, it remains particularly vulnerable. According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021, around 39% of UK businesses reported cybersecurity breaches or attacks in the last 12 months. The same research found that 26% of charities suffered the same fate, which means no organisation is safe from long established or emerging cybersecurity threats.
IT security risks are rising still into 2022, but with knowledge of the latest and greatest cybersecurity threats, you can arm your business against the devastation so many suffer as a result of cyber breaches and attacks.
Read on to discover the cybersecurity threats to expect during 2022, and exactly what you can do to prevent them, as identified by leading cybersecurity consultants.
WFH vulnerabilities
The Prime Minister may have recently announced the end of the government’s ‘work from home if you can’ policy. Yet many organisations are embracing remote working practices a little longer to realise a variety of benefits for their businesses.
The months ahead are expected to see remote and hybrid working become mainstays across all industry sectors, but do you have the protection in place to safeguard the home networks your staff rely on every working day?
Hackers and fraudsters are waiting in the wings to exploit the vulnerabilities that go hand-in-hand with the work from home (WFH) culture. Close these gaps by encouraging your remote workforce to use a VPN service or launching an SD-WAN network to encrypt and secure precious data. Delivering up-to-date cybersecurity awareness training is another must.
Unsecure devices and file sharing
While we’re on the subject of securing your remote workforce, you’ll want to beef up your file sharing and device security to minimise the risk of cyber-attacks and breaches.
File sharing is a common aspect of many people’s roles. Secure every file that’s shared amongst your team by calling on the built-in security of collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams as well as VPN and SD-WAN networks.
The use of devices for corporate purposes is another cybersecurity sore point. If you encourage staff to bring their own devices – whether that’s a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop or IoT endpoint – make your BYOD policy iron-clad to secure applications and data.
Malware protection
Malware remains a major risk for businesses of all sizes during 2022. Thanks to the increasingly sophisticated security and privacy controls that are part and parcel of most applications and tools, you don’t have to leave your business and its data vulnerable.
Use these security features to your advantage and keep them up-to-date to ensure your company’s malware protection holds its own in the face of new and existing threats from malicious software.
Phishing attacks
The use of phishing attacks by cyber criminals exploded during the pandemic. With more and more people working from home, seemingly unsupported and unprotected by the organisations that employ them, the remote workforce made easy pickings for phishing scams.
Phishing emails are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and with this the tell-tale signs that help workers identify phishing scams are becoming less and less obvious. The most refined scams even imitate internal communication to trick workers into believing that they are speaking, and sharing data, with a colleague.
The key to protecting your people from the devastating and often costly consequences of phishing emails is awareness training. Educate your workforce on how to spot phishing emails and what they should do if they encounter one.
