Patrick Domingues

Ransomware attacks rose again. The number of ransomware families rose from 143 to 157 in just one year. This means that the frequency and severity of attacks is still increasing. Ransomware attacks are up over last quarter, over the previous year, and up over the last three years.

The cybersecurity report you just read found that these cybercriminal groups are continuing to target unpatched vulnerabilities and weaponize zero-day vulnerabilities in record time to instigate crippling attacks. At the same time, they are broadening their spheres of attack and finding newer ways to compromise organizational networks and fearlessly trigger high-impact assaults.

Ransomware attacks can be devastating. According to Coveware, an attack costs an average of $220,298 and 23 days of downtime. Given the scramble to shift to the digital landscape combined with unprecedented shortages of skilled IT labor, a cyber-attack could cripple even the strongest businesses.

Get your head in the game

If you are going to build an effective cybersecurity strategy, you must understand the Everywhere Workplace. It’s a three-phased journey: manage, automate, and prioritize. The first phase is to establish your foundation. Automation reduces IT burden. Prioritizing gets you where you need to go as far as information and ability goes.

Step 1: Obtain Complete Asset Visibility

It’s impossible to know what you don’t see. Invest in an automated platform to enhance visibility into all connected devices and software, then provide context into how those assets are being used. This comprehensive discovery initiative finds all corporate-owned and BYOD devices on a network, then provides continuous visibility into how they are being used.

Step 2: Device Management

The traditional way of managing devices is no longer sufficient for today’s always-on, always-connected business world. The new approach of device management is essential to ensuring security in remote and hybrid work environments. A unified endpoint management (UEM) approach fully supports bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives while respecting user privacy and securing corporate data at the same time.

If you want to ensure that devices are managed at scale, you need a unified endpoint management (UEM) architecture. UEM architectures include the ability to easily onboard and configure device and application settings, establish device hygiene with risk-based patch management and mobile threat protection, monitor device posture and ensure compliance, identify and remediate issues quickly and remotely, automate software updates and OS deployments, and more.

Step 3: Good Device Hygiene

People are afraid of malware, but your devices are vulnerable to other types of attacks. You need a layered approach to security that focuses on device hygiene. This means that your company should only allow devices that meet its requirements to connect to it. Your company should look at jailbroken devices and other vulnerabilities that can lead to attacks. 

It’s hard to do business today. There are a lot of security risks. They are everywhere: on your devices, in the air, on the Internet. These risks can make your customers vulnerable. It is important to assess these risks and find solutions. First, you need to look at your devices for malware, viruses, and other nasty stuff. Then you should check your network for malicious hotspots, man-in-the-middle attacks, and unsecured Wi-Fi. Finally,

Step 4: Secure All Users

Passwords are so annoying, but they are still popular with hackers. Credentials are the most sought-after data types in breaches. They are involved in 61% of all breaches. So SSO should be used with caution. It can make a company vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Zero sign-on with multifactor authentication is the ideal passwordless solution. The method uses alternative authentication methods instead of passwords. These include what you have (mobile device), what you are (biometrics) and where you are.

Step 5: Provide Secure Access

In this new era, networks are not enough. They must be built on the principles of the software-defined perimeter (SDP). This is a sub-system that can be integrated with existing security systems and can be updated frequently. SDP is designed to take advantage of proven and standardized components that are constantly tested. It is a significant step forward.

Step 6: Continuously Monitor & Make Improvements

Most security reviews are done after a cyber breach. But this reactive approach is not the best way to handle it. Instead, focus on GRC management. You should have a solution that allows you to make regulatory documentation easily available for your business. This will help you stay in compliance and reduce the risk of a cyber attack.

It can seem overwhelming. The threats of cyber-attacks are overwhelming too. It is essential to take advantage of partnerships and leverage the right security solutions to support your cybersecurity journey. The right solution will be comprehensive and integrated with your infrastructure, allowing your IT team to focus on other areas, while preserving a useful, seamless user experience.

I hope this article was helpful, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If you would like to be notified of when I create a new post, you can subscribe to my blog alert.

Patrick Domingues

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