Kaspersky gives IT security recommendations for companies in 2021: Remote work will break the trend away from the classic security concept around the company perimeter and accelerate towards security certification for micro-offices. Outsourcing IT and cybersecurity functions will be critical to address the lack of in-house expertise and save budgets.
For the coordination of managed service providers and the use of multiple cloud services, cloud security and management knowledge is a must. As the latest security forecasts from Kaspersky for the year 2021 show, it will be these and a few other cybersecurity challenges and trends that companies will have to actively face this year.
The shift to remote working, financial constraints due to the economic recession, and the rise in cyber threats due to the global pandemic will shape the daily role of cybersecurity professionals this year. For companies, the key is to understand the challenges, but also to take advantage of opportunities in IT and IT security management in order to maintain their own protection. The latest Kaspersky report "Plugging the gaps: 2021 corporate IT security predictions" provides recommendations for every position that has to do with cybersecurity - including CEOs and business owners, but also CISOs, SOC team leaders and IT managers.
Trends that companies should watch
- The protection of the perimeter is no longer sufficient - an assessment and certification of the home office will be necessary in the future. Appropriate tools should be used to check the security level of every workstation - from existing software vulnerabilities to the connection to an unreliable or unprotected WLAN hotspot. In addition, a broader introduction of VPN, privileged access management, multifactor authentication systems, the implementation of stricter monitoring and the updating of existing emergency plans will be necessary.
- The switch to a service model will enable the required level of IT and IT security with less investment. According to a Kaspersky survey, seven out of ten European companies (65 percent) say they are already planning to use a Managed Service Provider (MSP) or Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) in the next 12 months. Such a service model helps to minimize investments and shift the cost of business from CapEx to OpEx.
- The training of internal IT security specialists should include management skills. Cybersecurity professions break down into very narrow specializations, which means that hiring staff for any specific role can be too expensive. This is where outsourcing can help fill the gap. However, companies that outsource critical cybersecurity components need to focus on developing management skills for their internal teams to lead these outsourced functions.
- The dependence on cloud services will increase, which will require special management and protection measures. The same survey also showed that in Europe in 2020, employees in 88 percent of large companies and 92 percent in medium-sized companies had used non-company software and cloud services such as social networks, messengers or other applications. To ensure that all company data remains under control, better visibility into cloud access will be required. IT security managers need to adapt to this situation and develop skills for cloud management and protection.
With the introduction of new cybersecurity practices, the reliability of the tools that enable these changes will also be of particular concern. The quality of protection and seamless manageability are key when choosing cybersecurity solutions.
Quality of protection is now a "must"
"We noticed two important changes in customer expectations for corporate cybersecurity offerings," said Alexander Moiseev, Chief Business Officer at Kaspersky. Firstly, the quality of the protection is no longer up for discussion, it is now a “must”. Another important trend is that deep integration between different components of corporate security, ideally from a single provider, is now playing a bigger role. For a long time, the opinion prevailed in the industry that different specialized solutions from different providers could form the best combination for protection. Now companies are looking for a more unified approach with maximum integration between different security technologies. ”The full Kaspersky report“ Plugging the gaps: 2021 corporate IT security predictions ”is available online.
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About Kaspersky Kaspersky is an international cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky's in-depth threat intelligence and security expertise serve as the basis for innovative security solutions and services to protect companies, critical infrastructures, governments and private users worldwide. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection as well as a range of specialized security solutions and services to defend against complex and evolving cyber threats. Kaspersky technologies protect over 400 million users and 250.000 corporate customers. More information about Kaspersky can be found at www.kaspersky.com/