Technology is changing our lives likes never before – there’s no debate on that – but protecting the very systems that have created unprecedented levels of efficiency for billions of people on planet earth is fast becoming a hot-button issue. Data breaches are occurring at record pace. Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Insider threats are now a bigger concern than ever before. Can anything be done to stop the flow of security threats – absolutely – but it begins by truly understanding such threats and the big picture of today’s information security landscape.
The time is now for businesses to start gaining a competitive advantage in 2019 – and beyond – with cybersecurity. People – and businesses in general – want to work with organizations where they know their data will be safe and secure. Also, they know most organizations are incapable of doing just that. If you can be one of those chosen few companies that willingly embrace cybersecurity, you’ve got a competitive advantage in your industry that very few businesses – if any – have.
Here’s 19 things a CEO – and really, anyone else – needs to know about cybersecurity for 2019, according to Charles Denyer, one of the world’s foremost experts on cybersecurity and data privacy.
- Cyber Attacks will Continue to Grow: The world is awash in cybersecurity attacks, and there seems to be no end in sight.
- Ransomware will be on the Rise. Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents or limits users from accessing their system, either by locking the system’s screen or by locking the users’ files unless a ransom is paid. And ransomware attacks are growing more common with each passing day.
- AI will Accelerate, and so will the Attacks. In most-simplest definition, AI – known as “Artificial Intelligence” – is intelligence demonstrated via processing by machines, particularly, computing systems. Remember the fear many years ago, “will robots replace humans”? Thankfully, that won’t happen anytime soon – or hopefully, ever – but AI is growing aggressively, becoming one of technology’s great disrupters of the new millennium.
- Cyber Insurance will Become a Norm: In not the not so distant past, the term cyber insurance was about as foreign a concept as anything in business. After all, businesses had general liability policies, error and omissions policies, and other coverage, so why cyber insurance? Fast forward to 2019 and cyber insurance has now become an essential safeguard in the world of information security.
- Insider Threats will be Bigger than Ever. For years, we all worried about external threats to one’s environment. The DoS and DDoS attacks. The hackers trying to force their way into networks from thousands of miles away as they attack without notice. The droves of spam that saturate emails with malware links. Well, those threats abound, are alive and well, causing havoc for unsuspecting victims.
Yet what’s also taking shape are growing insider threats. Call it the enemy within, which means you’re now fighting a new kind of war – the war within. That’s right, businesses now have to look inside to nefarious employees and contractors who can create just as much damage – often more damage – than the well-known external threats. - Phishing Attacks will Continue to Grow: Phishing attacks are a type of social engineering attack often used to steal a wide-range of user data, ranging from passwords to credit card numbers, and much more.
- Regulatory Compliance is Just Getting Warmed Up: Are you familiar with today’s regulatory compliance mandates – PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 1/SOC 2/SOC 3 audits, and more – if not, then now’s the time to get up to speed.
- The GDPR Will Continue to Expand its Global Footprint: Speaking of compliance, one of the biggest, most monumental data privacy laws ever to hit the entire globe is the General Data Protection Regulation, simply known as the GDPR.
- Next Generation Security Tools & Solutions are Heading Your Way: The cyber bad guys are always on the move, doing all they can to find new and innovative ways for stealing data. Fortunately, technology companies aren’t sitting idle.
- The Cloud will Continue to Grow Aggressively: The two (2) heavyweight cloud players, in terms of businesses adopting cloud platforms, are Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS (with Google GCP also a viable entity), and they’re experiencing unprecedented growth, and will continue to do so in 2019, and beyond.
- America’s Critical Infrastructure will be a Prime Target: The very fabric and way of life for which we as Americans have come to rely on – and take for granted – is America’s critical infrastructure, and its overall protection. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) – as it’s generally called – has become fundamentally important in today’s world of growing national security threats.
- Security Will be Lacking in New Product Launches: Profits always seem to take precedent. Hey, that’s capitalism, right! Unfortunately, in today’s world where emerging cybersecurity threats are creating immense challenges, security needs to be front and center, and it’s often not.
- Organizations will Fail Miserably – once again – in Applying Security Patches: One of the most fundamentally important initiatives for helping secure information systems is patching. Specifically, applying security and patch updates to operating systems and applications is absolutely essential, yet untold numbers of businesses are missing the mark on this, unfortunately.
- Organizations will Fail to Invest in Necessary Security Tools. While the importance of cybersecurity continues to be preached by all corners of the InfoSec world – and while breaches continue to happen – organizations will still fail to spend money on the resources they need.
- Organizations will (hopefully!) Continue to See the Benefits of Security Awareness Training: The “Human Element” is the single most fundamentally important aspect when it comes to securing an organization’s assets. And that’s because no matter how much money you spend on the latest, greatest, next-generation security tools and solutions, they’re absolutely meaningless if you don’t have well-trained employees.
- Organizations will (hopefully!) begin Embedding a True Cybersecurity Mindset: A security first mindset will hopefully – finally, once and for all – begin to truly sink in for businesses. One would think that after the onslaught of recent high-profile data breaches, businesses will take a new and hard look in protecting their assets.
- Well-Qualified IT personnel will be Hard to Come by: If 2018 was a tight labor market, then expect 2019 to be even tighter. According to Forbes magazine, “The labor market is tight right now, and this is the biggest challenge business leaders face today. And I’ve got bad news for you: It’s not going to get better anytime soon.”
- Cyber Espionage Threats Will Rise Significantly: What is cyber espionage? Cyber espionage is a form of cyber-attack resulting in the theft of highly confidential, classified, and/or sensitive data or intellectual property to gain an advantage over a competitive company or government entity. Specifically, espionage, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company.
- National Security Implications will be Front and Center for America: We are at war, no question about it, though maybe not in the traditional sense with infantry, guns, tanks and airplanes. The new war is the war on cybersecurity, so call it what you want – cyberterrorism, cyberwarfare, or any other name that’s commonly being used – but make no mistake, it’s here, and here to stay.
Yes, there’s one more thing CEO’s need to know about cybersecurity!
Cybersecurity is Your New Competitive Advantage. For CEO’s and business owners who truly can see the opportunities with cybersecurity, the sky’s the limit. Greater market share, increased profits, longer customer retention periods – it’ all possible when you begin to see cybersecurity as your new competitive advantage. Stop and running and start winning with cybersecurity. Learn more today from Charles Denyer.
Download the full copy of 19 Things a CEO Needs to Know about Cybersecurity in 2019 today to learn more today’s growing cybersecurity threats for CEO’s. Here’s what you’ll learn with my free guide:
- Why today’s cybersecurity landscape is more complex and challenging than ever before.
- How CEO’s are facing immense cybersecurity hurdles, from hiring personnel to budgeting, and more.
- Learn about emerging cybersecurity issues, threats, concerns – and best practices.
- Learn how to be proactive in preparing your business for the coming cybersecurity challenges.
- Learn how cybersecurity can be your competitive advantage in the marketplace.
