Building Security Around Life Online – The New Normal
2020 was the year that will forever be remembered as the year we were catapulted into depending on technology for nearly every aspect of our lives. Companies were affected by COVID in ways that no one could have been prepared to handle. For the companies that have IT support, there was an immediate need to upgrade all facets of technology in their business processes.
From their methods of production, order processing, billing, records management, to their computer systems, software, and servers. Having internet applications that facilitated different types of processes and mobile capabilities quickly became the only way some companies could continue to conduct business.
According to an article published in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) “Internet services have seen rises in usage from 40% to 100% compared to pre-lockdown levels” and “Videoconferencing services like Zoom have seen 10 times increase in usage.” 40% of adults found themselves needing to use some form of digital technology for the first time in their lives in 2020.1
This unprecedented increase in technology usage may not only affect the physical health of your employees, (i.e., blurred vision, headaches, carpel tunnel syndrome) if you are not taking the necessary steps to secure your network and your applications, it could affect the overall health of your business.
The more time spent using technology enables malicious adversaries more opportunity to steal information from your business and your customers. Most businesses focus primarily on network security; however, application security is a very important part of an overall security strategy that many companies are missing.
Applications and Devices Vulnerable to Security Breaches
Applications such as email, video-conferencing, eFax, and Wi-Fi capable printers were being used by some businesses for the first time in 2020 and these are a common entry point for cyber criminals. Some security breaches stem from applications that were not updated with important security patches.
Systems without firewalls leave their data open to vulnerabilities that could crumble their entire infrastructure with the click of a button.
Employees using unprotected home computers for both business and personal use to complete seemingly simple tasks like online shopping, booking a flight, or opening attachments, could introduce their device to a harmful virus or even cause them to lose their personal finances or information.
Using company tablets, laptops, or cellphones to connect to public Wi-Fi could expose your applications to a security breach as cyber criminals can mimic public wi-fi addresses and once connected, they would have access to information such as usernames, emails, and passwords.
Application vulnerabilities will change as new threats are created so it is vital that your business is consistently proactive in taking steps to ensure your applications are protected from loss or theft of information. If you are not certain that your applications are fully protected, contact us today to schedule a full security assessment.
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