Cyber CEO: A Look Back at Cybersecurity in 2021

December 15, 2021

Every year as December winds down and the New Year approaches, I reflect and look back at the year I'm leaving behind. Needless to say, in 2021 cybersecurity was front and center for individuals, enterprises, and governments alike. Data breaches and cybersecurity threats were at an all-time high this past year. This forced security leaders and enterprise executives to assess their information security operations and overall cybersecurity posture to ensure their organizations were ready to face the challenges ahead. While this was a big task to take on, I have to admit - I'm leaving 2021 behind feeling encouraged and hopeful for cybersecurity in the New Year.

Not to be misunderstood - we still have a lot of work to do. But I think we're headed in the right direction, and I truly believe you've got to celebrate all the wins, big and small ! So let's take a look at the big challenges, priorities, and trends we saw in cybersecurity over the past year.

The Rise of Ransomware

2021 saw some of the most damaging ransomware breaches in recent history. From Solar Winds to Colonial Pipeline, we've seen that the consequences of a ransomware attack don't just affect the victimized organization - they can have trickle-down effects that impact whole communities, industries and even nations.

While it's certainly not new, ransomware has seen a steep increase in frequency and sophistication this past year. For cyber actors, it’s a lucrative cyber attack option that can be delivered in various ways. On top of this, the consequences of rapid digital transformation due to the COVID-19 Pandemic created the perfect storm for successful ransomware attacks. Threat actors have developed social engineering approaches that leverage the uncertainty and chaos of the pandemic in order to deliver their malicious software. They will often target vulnerabilities resulting from remote work environments, supply chain access that wasn't properly secured, and even distracting events like the 4th of July long weekend - as we saw with recent ransomware attacks including the Kaseya breach.

The Herjavec Group Threat Team recently reported on the State of Ransomware in 2021. They found that the average cost of recovery and ransom associated with a ransomware attack has been 2 times more than the 2020 average global ransom demand !

The good news is, while ransomware continues to be a rising threat, there are many ways you and your enterprise can practice good cybersecurity hygiene to prevent a ransomware attack and mitigate damage should a breach occur:

Ensure Your Team Knows What to Do in the Event of a Breach

Provide resources and training for your team on best practices and good cyber hygiene.

Be Prepared for the Worst

Back up all sensitive data and make sure you have an incident response plan.

Mitigate Vulnerability Risk

Ensure your software is always patched and up to date.

Cybersecurity is Everyone's Responsibility

Gone are the days where defending your enterprise from cyber threats and knowing how to properly respond to an incident was on your IT department's shoulders alone. This was truer in 2021 than ever before with most organizations working as a remote workforce. Today, every person in your organization can be both your cybersecurity program's weakest link or its strongest first line of defense. To achieve the latter, everyone on your team should know to be wary of suspicious activity and threats from potentially malicious software and how to address breaches immediately when they occur.

I truly believe that your people are your first line of defense. When it comes to cyber risks, the most up-to-date cybersecurity technology or regimented program doesn't make an organization immune to an attack. Operating with a team of individuals who are cybersecurity savvy is one of the best tools for cyber risk management. Cybersecurity programs that educate your entire team on general information security tactics - including recognizing and addressing phishing scams - are essential.

Ensure your entire team - regardless of whether or not they are in a technical role - understands how to:

Spot Suspicious Activity

Your team should know how to identify and properly respond to potentially malicious activity like phishing emails that could lead to ransomware infections.

Use Best Password Practices

End users should be trained not to use easy to decrypt passwords and/or the same password for multiple accounts.

Practice Good Remote Working Habits

Those with remote access should utilize proper protocols to access enterprise networks when remote working. This includes using secured and private networks, not using personal, unsecured devices, and not sharing work devices with family and friends.

The Importance of a Culture of Security-Driven Business

Speaking of people being your best and the first line of cybersecurity - 2021 has been the year enterprises began to embrace a culture of security-driven business. This doesn't just mean adding cybersecurity programs and protocols as an after-thought to your business and IT operations. It means including cybersecurity into the very strategy and development of your enterprise and ensuring your entire team has access to resources, support, and infrastructure that allows them to prioritize cybersecurity in their everyday tasks. This approach is critical to facing the evolving threat landscape. Organizations can do this by:

Removing the use of scare tactics.

Only communicating the terrible things that happen when your team doesn’t follow cybersecurity best practices can lead to anxiety and the inability to think clearly when dealing with high-pressure situations. Providing support and easily accessible channels to inform themselves and to carry out cybersecurity best practices is key for your team to be invested in the cybersecurity of your organization. Nurture a culture of trust and open communication where your team feels supported in asking questions and making measured decisions when they see suspicious activity.  

Providing the right resources to your team to help them make informed decisions about cybersecurity.

Take it a step further than training sessions by having materials that are always available for your team to access when they’re unsure of how to proceed. This could be a person in each department who is dedicated to cybersecurity and can answer their colleague’s questions, recorded video tutorials, or written FAQs. Make it as easy as possible for your team to know what to do when faced with potential cybersecurity threats. 

Ensuring your cybersecurity balances user experience along with security.

You can have the greatest technologies, tools, and methods, but if the people in your enterprise can’t figure them out, they’re essentially useless !  Keep human user experience (UX) top of mind. Today, the best and most innovative cybersecurity tools won’t be the ones with a load of features or the best performance stats, they’ll be the ones that are the most intuitive and easy to use. 

The Cybersecurity Skills Gap

While the cybersecurity skills gap has continued to be a problem, in 2021, we've seen a general labour shortage across all industries. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the digital transformation that many organizations recently experienced. In the cybersecurity industry, drastic changes to business operations coupled with shrinking budgets mean in-house cybersecurity professionals are both difficult to come by and often too expensive to hire to develop robust cybersecurity programs. This makes simple but essential information security protocols like proper monitoring, network segmentation, and working toward a zero-trust architecture challenging.

Back in October, I spoke extensively on the two-part solution I believe could solve the looming skills shortage. This includes:

• Enabling your current cybersecurity team
• Engaging a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)

I look forward to building a capable cybersecurity workforce where cybersecurity professionals can thrive, grow, and most importantly - be a part of a team that meets the threat landscape head on without being overworked, underfunded, or burning out. To achieve this our industry needs to:

• Start educating individuals on cybersecurity early
• Provide and accept accessible cybersecurity training
• Address the current climate and make systemic changes where necessary
• Continue building and nurturing the cybersecurity community

As the year comes to an end, it's important to remember - it's never too late to start implementing good cyber practices and improving upon your current security posture. Let's take a moment to be grateful for the positive moments of 2021 - even if that's just having gotten through it in one piece - and start working toward a more cyber secure world in the New Year.

To Your Success,

To learn more about how Herjavec Group is advancing the security profiles of enterprise organizations around the world, click here.