Protect your business with appropriate security solutions

The rising internal and external security threats have made the businesses realize that a robust security posture is critical to business growth. As a result, security has become a prime concern for businesses and an important boardroom agenda.

Rapid advancements in technology have given rise to many innovative security solutions that have transformed the way businesses approach security. Today, business security refers to an all-encompassing security posture that takes care of both cyber security and physical security. As businesses look to increase their investments in creating robust security architectures, there are certain areas that they can focus on.

• Encryption: Encryption of data is one of the important security measures that businesses must consider. It will be beneficial for businesses to invest in platforms that help encrypt data in all its forms—on-premise, off-premise, on cloud, or in transit.
• Cloud Security: The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the adoption of cloud with a majority of businesses transitioning to digital for business continuity. This increased adoption is accompanied by heightened security concerns, given that cyber criminals are equally active and looking out for opportunities to strike.

Data in the cloud is still susceptible to exploitation in spite of data protection solutions. This is because cyber criminals are leveraging advancements in technology and resorting to social engineering to exploit the existing lacunae and gain unauthorized access. To protect data from exposure, in addition to using available applications and solutions, businesses must take regular backups.

• IoT Security: Internet of Things driven smart devices are growing at a breakneck speed with Gartner predicting their numbers to reach 21 billion by 2021. This will open up a large surface for the cyber criminals to attack. The security challenge that IoT devices pose is further aggravated because these devices come with little or no security built-in. A lack of consensus on the standard manufacturing practices and communication protocols doesn't help either. Further, often users continue using the devices with the default passwords, which make them susceptible to heightened cyber threats. To improve IoT security, automation and software-defined networking can play an important role, so can an SDN approach with a fabric back into the data center. Another approach is to consider a zero trust architecture which will ensure access is granted only to secure and compliant devices.
• Surveillance Systems: Talking of surveillance systems conjures up a picture of CCTV cameras. However, the surveillance systems today have leap-frogged ahead using technological advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, to become a critical component of a 360-degree security architecture of any organization. They not only help protect the physical infrastructure but also play a crucial role in access control and information collection. Today, surveillance systems are capable of providing businesses with the intelligence and analytics that help enhance security.

Choose solutions that meet individual requirements

Although new technologies have opened up multiple attack vectors and expanded the attack surface manifold, it is the same technology that is enabling businesses to protect their physical and digital assets using cost-effective solutions. It may, however, be mentioned that it is not necessary that a single solution will help address multiple security challenges an organization faces. Therefore, an organization must choose appropriate solutions and have them customized according to their individual needs.

The article has been written by Neetu Katyal, Content and Marketing Consultant

She can be reached on LinkedIn.