Stefan Leipold CEO of STARK & ProSysCo.biz and StefanLeipold.com.
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Without a doubt, the years 2020 and 2021 were not only challenging for many businesses financially but also on the human level. With a 400% increase in cybersecurity attacks, remote workers face an entirely new challenge of securing remote environments while accessing corporate infrastructures.
The cost increase and damages from cybersecurity breaks are projected to go from $3 trillion in 2015 to $10.5 trillion in 2025, which, of course, only reflects reported numbers. So the estimated number with unreported cases is likely much higher. With all that in mind, here are four tips to adjust your IT practices for 2022.
Pay for the professional-level software and keep it updated.
In preparing corporate and personal infrastructures for the year 2022, you should be aware of a couple of game-changers. With the latest operation system updates — Microsoft's Windows 11 and Apple's OS Monterey — companies and individuals need to realize that there is an end of life for browsers, operating systems and service systems (a list of end-of-life systems can be found on the Microsoft and Apple websites).
You should also be aware that antivirus and antispyware programs need to be updated to stay compatible with the latest versions of those operating systems. As a company, contact your IT provider to manually check if there are updates available or if they need to be reinstalled with the latest cloud-based version.
The sheer amount of cyberattacks against small- and medium-sized enterprise corporations, including medical, pharmaceutical and financial institutions showed a potential trend, so multiple countries came together to simulate the impact of cybersecurity attacks on financial institutions and governments for what they called “Exclusive IMF.” They used this to learn what could be done as a fast response to minimize the damage should it happen for real. The key factor is to keep systems up to date and have protective software like antivirus and antimalware up to date. In addition, it's best to have the professional paid version, not the unlimited free version.
Use a VPN and privacy screen.
When working in a public space, employees should use both a privacy screen and the company VPN. With remote work being a new, likely permanent, feature of life, more people are choosing to work in cafes and other public spaces. VPNs can protect your connection from hackers lurking in those public spaces while privacy screens can help protect from curious eyes and shoulder surfers. (Full disclosure: My company offers privacy screens, as do others.) When choosing a VPN service, look for solutions with good reputations that support your systems (like Apple or Windows) and mobile devices, and that let you select the country you want the IP connection to. Paid subscriptions can also help you make sure that the software stays up to date and secure.
Keep your staff educated.
Strong, healthy policies can help keep employees who are working remotely from uploading, opening or transferring harmful software to the company's servers. When it comes to cybersecurity, the same rules apply to physical security; nothing beats good education policies and reinforcement of those policies periodically since staff will change with new hires and departures.
While you can't put a firewall in a person's head, you can do anything and everything in your power to make your company a safer, more secure environment through education, investment and maintenance.
Hire a cybersecurity specialist.
With the rise of easily accessible hacking as a service via the dark web, nearly anyone can now pay sophisticated hackers with cryptocurrency to target attacks wherever they please. This has essentially multiplied the number of attacks on corporations. What can we learn from 2021? Many major corporations have been victims of cybersecurity attacks — most of them because of human failure rather than compromised coding, such as insufficient password creation.
There are professional cybersecurity consultants available to assist corporations in building, designing and implementing strong IT infrastructures, policies and training for employees. Your response might be like the top answer I receive globally from IT customers: "We have a local IT guy." But your local IT guy is not a cybersecurity specialist; your IT guy is hired to build and maintain your infrastructure. A cybersecurity specialist, AKA a hacker hired to break that infrastructure, can find security gaps and work with your local IT guy to strengthen them.
These simple tips could help prevent your company from becoming an easy target for cybersecurity attacks and keep you running smoothly in 2022 and beyond.
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