Cybersecurity concerns in every business

While cyber threats were once again the leading concern of business decision-makers, 2022 has been a monumental year for cybercrime. On top of new and increasing remote-work threats, we’ve seen continued nation-state threats and attacks on big-name companies. The top trends to watch for 2023 — including the rise in cloud application use, ransomware-as-a-service, and the use of automation in security programs.

Today, most of the cyberattacks are now AI/ML enabled. In 2022, particularly we saw a rise in Russian nation-state cyberattacks and it was found out that all the bad actors are taking advantage of AI/ML techniques. It’s very important now for entities to use AI/ML backed tools to at least thwart 99% of such kinds of attacks.

It has to be an essential part of every cybersecurity strategy because the scale at which cyberattackers are using these advanced technologies against entities is unprecedented. Cyberattacks will be so intense that, it can shut down a company for a long period of time or even put it out of business, and it’s imperative that companies have a plan in place to mitigate any associated operational and financial disruptions

Secondly, as the journey to cloud has accelerated in the last couple of years, data security has become complex. Earlier enterprises didn’t have to think much about data classification, sensitive data discovery, governance, structured and unstructured data, access controls, etc. With the rise in cloud adoption, they are facing a lot of challenges in working through all these complexities in hybrid environments.

The new work culture where anyone can work from anywhere from their own devices leaves a lot of data vulnerable with multiple endpoints being generated. This also calls for the need of skilled employees who have experience in areas like legal, policy, risk, who can navigate all this to protect the data and keep it in line with the country’s laws.

Going forward, Ransomware attacks will be on the rise this year as well, with the increasing API risks, enterprises should not think that getting a cyber insurance policy might solve all their problems related to ransomware, data protection or regulation. Hence, it is critical that business leaders treat security as a priority and a potential business risk.

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA