As 2020 marches on, and COVID-19 still rages in certain parts of the world, working remotely has quickly become the new norm. This being said, what data security trends does your IT department need to be looking at in 2021?
We’ve compiled a list of the top trends that your IT department should be aware of and making contingency plans for:
A Remote Office
If you’ve not created and instituted a formal remote work policy, it’s about time the IT department starts. This includes equipping employees with the right software tools to ensure that the company’s data is safe when accessed remotely. The more you do to minimise openings in the security system, the better.
Don’t Allow Full Access To Anyone
In this current environment, no one should be able to remotely access all of the company’s data. Employees should only be able to access data that’s critical to their specific job.
This is done to prevent cyberattacks from accessing the full IT infrastructure of the company, which would then be left vulnerable to malicious data theft and accidental data loss.
Companies that allow for full access to company data are more likely to report data breaches than those who divide up their servers.
Dividing Data Is Only The First Step
While it will help to divide and categorise data into public, internal, and confidential folders, these divisions still need restricted access.
Implementing access control and authentication procedures should be the top priorities for your IT department.
Phishing Is High
As we wrote about before here, phishing has peaked during COVID-19 with new convincing con-emails being sent. This is a trend being seen around the world. Make sure you have a plan to isolate the problem account and minimise the damage.
Account Takeovers
We’ve all experienced some form of an account takeover in this modern connected world, and as with phishing, this has also increased.
Make sure that, if a bot is dropped into one of your company’s profiles, you’re able to address the issue quickly and efficiently. Spam emails being sent from a colleague’s account can damage a company’s reputation.
Introduce Two-Factor Authentication Methods
If you’ve not already introduced it, there’s no better time than the present. Using two-factor authentication provides that extra level of security that will help keep data secure.
For those IT departments who can, introducing some form of biometrics will be key.
Outsourcing Specialists
There’s never been a more important time to introduce a backup IT response team. The longer a breach is left unattended, the bigger the problem becomes.
That’s why we offer a 24/7 security response service. If you’d like to have a consultation, let us know, here.