Thanks to evolving technology, businesses have easier access to data, helping them strategize their next move. However, it also heightens their exposure to security risks and the need to comply with evolving trends in data privacy.
As businesses collect and store more sensitive data than ever, the threat of breaches and leaks also grows. Even tech giants like Apple or Meta aren’t safe against dangers that compromise sensitive user information.
While no business is completely safe from data threats, understanding the latest data security and privacy trends and developments can help you make well-informed decisions to protect your business. Here are some of them:
1. Human Risk Is On The Rise
Human error is unavoidable–it’ll always be a part of any business. However, human errors can create company-wide issues regarding data security and privacy.
Statistics show that over 80% of data breaches and leaks are caused by employees. Most of these incidents are unintentional, usually due to poor training. For instance, a team member may not fully understand a phishing link. They may accidentally click on it, allowing malware into your server. While not done on purpose, it can cause a lot of damage to your company.
To minimize risk, you must invest in a comprehensive employee training program. This helps your employees stay updated with security risks and best practices to avoid and counter them. In particular, you want to regularly give your IT staff the necessary training to help keep your business secure. You can hire experts like Next DLP to educate them on current data trends and your business’s information security policies.
You can strengthen your company’s overall security by training your team members to become savvier in data privacy and security.
2. Adoption Of Zero-Trust Security
Between the growing trend of remote and hybrid work setups and the increasingly sophisticated technology, businesses need to adopt a zero-trust security model.
At its core, zero-trust means to ‘never trust’ a user and ‘always verify’ an access request. So, even if it involves your employees, the system won’t provide instant access to all corporate resources and data and still needs to identify and authenticate the users. In short, a zero-trust system model means that users are constantly re-assessed, re-authenticated, and re-authorized to access business data.
Experts suggest that the zero-trust model will continue to grow in the coming years. They predicted that up to 60% of businesses will implement a zero-trust business model by 2025. Most federal agencies were directed to adopt a zero-trust model by the Biden administration, and it’s expected to be completed in 2024.
3. More Demand For Data Security Talents
Today, there’s an increasing demand for data security skills and talents. With ever-changing privacy regulations and increasingly sophisticated attacks, the business world needs more professionals adept in data security.
According to statistics, over a million cybersecurity jobs will be available in 2023 and are expected to grow in the upcoming years. Consequently, new education programs and vocational tech courses are being created to meet the demand for these data privacy and security positions.
4. Businesses Turn To Third-Party Security Providers
While there’s an increased demand for security talents, a significant skills gap exists. This makes it difficult for businesses to hire the right security specialist for their IT team. Moreover, most small businesses may not have the budget to hire top data security talents or create a full-fledged security team.
As such, more companies are now outsourcing their data security and privacy needs to specialized IT firms. These managed IT firms offer everything your business needs, from IT security planning to daily remote monitoring to active threat response and management.
5. More Data Security Regulations
Data privacy and security have become a hot topic, thanks to social media campaigners and documentaries showing people just how much data is being collected by businesses.
As such, consumers have become more demanding and have high expectations of the government and regulatory bodies to implement privacy rules. Fortunately, most governments are increasing their efforts by passing more data security regulations to protect the public’s data privacy.
According to experts, up to 65% of the world’s population may be covered under a new privacy regulation. Governments also continue to draft and pass modern data privacy and security laws, with a 10% increase since 2020. In addition, five major American states are expected to implement comprehensive data privacy laws this year.
6. Layered Security Strategy For Multi-Cloud Models
Today, businesses are taking advantage of multiple cloud providers. Implementing a multi-cloud strategy is beneficial for optimizing your business processes and applications. However, using multiple cloud providers requires several security protocols, resulting in the use of non-integrated security tools across your cloud platforms. This creates security tool sprawl, which increases cloud complexity, creating inefficiencies and higher security risks.
To combat this issue, a layered security strategy is growing in popularity. Whether using integrated third-party tools or cloud-native services, such an approach helps streamline your multi-cloud security. It consolidates your cloud cybersecurity initiatives while reducing complexity.
Most cloud services also offer built-in security and integration capabilities, making it convenient for businesses to operate multi-cloud.
7. Increased Security For Remote Workers
The pandemic forced businesses to change how they operate. Health protocols and social distancing have caused the shift to remote working. However, even in a post-COVID era, remote working is expected to continue or give birth to a hybrid work setup.
If you’re considering this arrangement, you also need to re-think data security and privacy. With a remote or hybrid model, data transfers and access from personal devices will be the staple. This increases the likelihood of data breaches and leaks.
Thus, businesses’ IT infrastructure must have robust remote working security. You want to ensure that each worker is adequately equipped to protect your business data and keep their devices secure. From secure antivirus software to multi-factor authentication, businesses should empower their remote workers to better avoid data breaches.
In managed IT Brisbane, businesses leverage managed IT services for a comprehensive range of technical support, from network security to system maintenance and software management. This managed IT approach allows companies to concentrate on their core operations while relying on expert teams to handle IT challenges. It leads to reduced downtime and enhanced security, offering tailored IT solutions to meet specific business needs.
Takeaway
As the world continues to rely on the internet and digital convenience, data security and privacy will always be necessary for every company–big or small. Learning the key trends and significant shifts shaping data security and privacy can help you protect your company better and stay competitive in this modern business world.
