2020 has been the year of the unprecedented, which has forced industries, organizations, leaders and teams to prepare for both the known and the unknown. The threats that couldn’t be seen have often been the scariest and, in turn, a challenge for security teams.
While the year may be winding down, the lessons learned amid a pandemic and a contentious U.S. election are just starting to take shape. The upside of this frenzied year is that cybersecurity professionals already know where to focus their efforts in the year ahead. That’s because three key trends have emerged for 2021:
1. More Intelligent Firewalls
Virtual private networks, better known as VPNs, became a must-have tool this year during COVID-19 as companies outfitted and enabled remote workforces around the world. But as STANLEY Security Solutions Engineering Consultant Andrew Gibson shares in Toolbox, VPNs are just one step toward a long-term remote work structure. As companies prepare for a lingering and worsening pandemic, they’re now turning their attention to security policies and intelligent firewalls. That’s because Gibson says adaptable firewalls “will automate much of a company’s threat detection and prevention, helping cybersecurity teams stay abreast of the threat landscape.”
2. Automated GRC
Speaking of future threats, LogicGate CEO Matt Kunkel sees the next frontier of risk tech in the cloud. In a piece for Information Age, he makes a case for automating legacy tech and in-house solutions to make governance, risk and compliance (GRC) programs more proactive. Kunkel says automating GRC cloud-based solutions allows you to “work smarter, save time, and focus on strategic approaches to a company’s biggest challenges and lingering threats.” The takeaway: The push toward digital transformation and investment in cloud solutions can actually serve as a revenue driver for organizations.
3. Push for DMARC
And finally, while the U.S. election may be over, scrutiny over election security and the threat of impersonation-based phishing is not. In fact, Alexander García-Tobar, the CEO and co-founder of Valimail, told Channel Partners “the same techniques that an attacker might use on election day would also work to sow doubt, confusion and misinformation in the days and weeks following the official election date.” Valimail, a leader in zero-trust email security, has been calling on federal and state officials to prioritize domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC) for all domains involved in elections. DMARC prevents attacks in which malicious third parties try to send harmful email using a counterfeit address.
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