The COVID-19 epidemic has hastened the transition to digital business, accelerating everything from decentralizing company workforces and digital assets to cloud migration and digital transformation. With that transition came an increase in digital security vulnerabilities.
What exactly is a digital security risk? It endangers the integrity of an organization’s information technology systems (software and hardware) or data (often personal data and sensitive information). Cyber attacks are the most visible manifestation of a digital security risk, but they are not the only one.
Understanding today’s digital security risk landscape is the first step in protecting your business and remaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Below are five common digital security issues in 2022.
What are the most common cybersecurity threats?
Consider these key danger categories when thinking about digital security concerns and how to defend against them.
Cybersecurity threats: cyber attacks and data security
Cyber attacks and information security are always a major concern in terms of digital security. According to the FBI, cybersecurity complaints climbed by over 70% between 2019 and 2020.
Phishing is a popular type of social engineering assault. During a phishing assault, a hacker sends email messages that look to be from reputable sources, but the emails are actually attempting to deceive the recipient into clicking on a link that will take the recipient to a fraudulent website (to steal the recipient’s private data) or will install malware.
Risks of regulatory compliance
Compliance risk is the chance that some of your organization’s operations will break applicable laws, regulations, or other restrictions. A failure to comply can lead to costly investigations, legal penalties, and unpleasant media attention, among other things. If your company adopted a remote work arrangement in the last year, for example, your risk of data breaches may have increased because home offices rarely provide the same level of network protection as commercial offices.
While network security is a concern for many IT teams right now, firms must also monitor and mitigate other sorts of compliance risks, such as fraud and money laundering in the financial services industry, corruption payments in global sales, workplace health and safety, and so on.
To decrease their exposure to such hazards, many firms develop compliance risk management systems and use GRC software.
Risks of artificial intelligence
As more businesses integrate artificial intelligence into their operations, IT leaders will need to be more cognizant of AI-related hazards. These dangers include AI bias, poor decision-making, and incorrect predictions. CISOs will also need to consider how to safeguard AI applications from unauthorized manipulation, which will necessitate a greater emphasis on IT general controls, user access controls, and the like.
Risks associated with vendors
Vendor risks exist when an organization is unaware of how many third parties come into contact with its confidential data or is unaware of the security safeguards in place for those third parties.
A large number of vendors (or other third parties in general) complicates risk management since you must track each party’s security policies, cyber hygiene, and financial health. Consolidate the number of suppliers you use, and then monitor them with GRC tools to discover and manage vendor risks as soon as feasible.
Workforce mobility
According to Gartner, Covid-19 allows 64 percent of company employees to work from home, and 40 percent do so. That may be a reasonable choice in terms of public health, but remote employment has also resulted in a new generation of cybersecurity dangers. Cybercriminals take advantage of vulnerabilities caused by employees’ use of insecure home networks and computer devices.