Brent Johnson, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Bluefin, recently sat down with Security Magazine to discuss how data breaches and the cyber-threat landscape will continue to evolve in 2022 and beyond.
An expert in critical infrastructure, Johnson states that with the shift to remote workforces, companies have the responsibility to secure their systems and the data their employees are working. Understanding where their sensitive data resides and ensuring that access controls are in place is key to developing a successful cybersecurity strategy and preventing a data compromise.
Since home systems are typically less monitored and secure than office environments, cyber-attacks on home networks are an easy target for cyber thieves. Additionally, with a heavy reliance on cloud and third parties being utilized by businesses, an increase in attacks on cloud infrastructure and supply chain attacks are expected, which can affect hundreds if not thousands of businesses in a single attack.
As cyberthieves follow the money, industries like healthcare and educational institutions will continue to be prime targets. But, as Johnson states, any business that relies on stored data to provide business services will be a prime target for ransomware attacks. Encryption and tokenization are imperative tools for data security.
“Institutions must have sound (and more than one) backup strategies and should never be storing data in cleartext. Sensitive data should always be encrypted or tokenized at rest and should only be converted to cleartext as needed within minimally accessible and locked-down environments.”
Read Johnson’s full article to learn how organizations can update their cybersecurity strategies to stay ahead of cyber-attacks and keep sensitive data safe.
