With 2023 now upon us, cybersecurity in 2023 looks to be one of the top concerns for company management and IT departments worldwide.
2022 saw new threats develop, and past threats like ransomware attacks become more prevalent. We also saw several high-profile security breaches that damaged reputations and put millions of users at risk for scams and privacy issues.
In this article, we’ll look at the key trends to keep an eye on in 2023, so you can be proactive when dealing with new threats in the coming months.
Cybersecurity May Be Too Complex To Handle In-House
Depending on the resources and size of your organization, it may not be possible to adequately address the myriad of security risks you’re faced with today.
Many organizations are implementing new technologies throughout the year, each introducing new vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, dealing with that may be too much to handle for many organizations without outside help.
Outsourcing cybersecurity to professionals who are dedicated to that task may be the smartest move for some organizations. Not only can this yield better results, but it may also be more cost-effective than trying to manage these risks in-house.
One other issue is that simply trying to secure the talent necessary to run security operations internally may be too difficult in this competitive hiring market. So trying to maintain cybersecurity internally may simply not be an option for many organizations.
This is why outsourcing this work will likely increase in 2023.
Customer And User Data Must Be Handled Properly
Consumers and employees are becoming more sensitive about how their personal data is handled. High-profile data breaches like what happened with Nelnet, a student loan financial advisory company, help illustrate that point.
In that case, the sensitive personal information of 2.5 million users was taken by a third party. Nelnet is now facing a class action lawsuit as well as possible regulatory fines over the breach.
Things will only get more difficult for companies that are lax with customer data security. Many states have passed new laws that tighten personal data requirements and increase penalties for not complying.
Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) Will Become More Critical
For overall security, ZTA will become much more prominent across organizations. In zero-trust systems, users are constantly verified across the entire technology stack. This can include risk assessment and even behavior assessments to determine whether a user needs to be re-verified.
The goal is to limit the so-called “blast radius” if an intruder does happen to secure login credentials. This way, they can be blocked from continually moving on through the system.
Zero trust will replace the previous “trust but verify” methodology that has been the industry standard for some time.
Focus On Employee Security Training
The move toward distributed work environments and remote work has opened up countless new threat vectors for companies to deal with.
At the heart of this is employees who may not even be aware that their actions may be leading to system vulnerabilities. Companies need to address this shortcoming in training so that employees understand the risks and how to mitigate them.
This is also where outsourcing all, or a part of your cybersecurity plan can be useful. Using an outside source to implement the training and materials needed may be faster and more cost-effective than doing this internally.
Phishing And Other Attacks On Authorization Tokens Will Increase
Many organizations moved to two or multi-factor authorization in recent years, but many of those solutions are now considered legacy tools and are vulnerable to sophisticated attacks.
Phishing and other attacks on employees to capture their SMS or authorization tokens tied to legacy authorization methods will likely increase substantially in 2023.
These legacy methods are an easy vector for sophisticated hackers, and tools are now available to make their job even easier.
Make sure your organization’s multi-factor authorization methods are both up-to-date and secure by the current standards needed.
Looking At 2023 And Beyond
Overall, cybersecurity will be at the forefront of IT departments for years to come. However, one thing to be aware of, especially as economic headwinds present themselves, is that cutting costs in IT or cybersecurity budgets could easily prove to be disastrous for a company’s overall health.
IT and cybersecurity is now an integral part of business operations for almost every organization. As a result, cutting in this area is simply not possible. Instead, departments need to investigate how to get the most for the budget spend while still increasing security and efficiency.
If your organization needs help with cybersecurity, disaster recovery, or IT consulting, contact the security experts at Robust Networks. Our team of talented and experienced engineers has the solutions your organization needs to protect from cybersecurity threats this year and in the future.