Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ensure your data is protected. With users accessing networks from multiple locations, data passing through unpredictable endpoints, and a rampant increase in cybercrime, establishing and maintaining data security best practices has never been more important. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were 2,365 cyber attacks in 2023, a 72% increase over 2021.

In today’s cybersecurity landscape, it’s not enough to guard against external threats. Employees have access to so much sensitive information and so many ways to share it that it’s easier than ever to leak data accidentally. These accidental data shares can jeopardize your organization’s compliance standing, expose your systems to threat actors, and cost you business. Everyone makes mistakes.

Working remotely using cloud applications is now the norm for getting things done. But while these shifts offer greater flexibility, they also bring new security challenges. For years, virtual private networks (VPNs) were the go-to solution for securing remote access. But when used at such a large scale, VPNs are inefficient, slowing users down and undoing the productivity gains that come along with remote work. Worse, they expose organizations to unnecessary security risks like lateral movement attacks.

As organizations embrace social media for networking, marketing, and recruiting, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) have become integral to business operations. While social networking sites offer numerous benefits for productivity, collaboration, and engagement, they also introduce significant security challenges, particularly concerning the handling and potential exposure of sensitive data.

Remote and hybrid workplaces are here to stay. In August 2023, 20% of U.S. employees worked from home at least once. By 2025, more than 36 million U.S. employees will work remotely, up from 19 million in 2019. That’s good news for employers who want the widest talent pool and employees who want to do their best work from anywhere. However, it’s also potentially good news for cyber criminals, who can exploit remote access policies to compromise cloud data.

In the modern world, data is a precious asset. That means malicious actors will go to great lengths to get their hands on your organization’s information — and if that information is in the cloud, it’s especially vulnerable to those outside forces. You likely have some cybersecurity measures in place, but are you prepared for modern breaches that use constantly evolving tactics to exploit vulnerabilities and gain access?

Since its debut in 2022, ChatGPT has radically reshaped the way we interact with technology. Generative AI (genAI) platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Meta AI have rapidly gained in popularity, offering capabilities that range from rewriting text to generating creative content. While these tools have created new opportunities for enhanced productivity, they’ve also introduced new security risks — particularly when users unknowingly share sensitive information.

The rise of cloud-based software applications has changed the way many companies operate. Leveraging SaaS platforms allows organizations to streamline their workflows and better accommodate remote and hybrid workforces. However, spreading your data throughout the cloud can leave it vulnerable — unless you have strong SaaS security practices in place.

The rise of hybrid and remote work has created unprecedented opportunities for forward-thinking organizations and their employees. At the same time, it has also created unprecedented opportunities for threat actors. The ability to access sensitive files from almost any machine, while convenient, can be a profound security risk. That’s why it’s worth considering a few real-world ZTNA use cases.

In the modern cloud landscape, the question isn’t whether or not you need a cloud access security broker (CASB) — it’s how to choose the right one and implement it effectively. Malicious attacks are on the rise, and so are remote and hybrid workforces, making it more important than ever to be proactive about data security.