Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

The complexity of cybersecurity threats has increased over the years. Additionally, the number of attack surfaces that can be used by cybercriminals has expanded phenomenally with the rise in remote and hybrid workplace models. With such a wide scope of possible cyberthreats, there’s no single solution that can counter them all.

As we look ahead to 2022, we should pause to reflect on the trends of the past year. Ransomware and supply chain attacks have become two of the top concerns for organizations following a series of high-profile attacks, such as those conducted against Colonial Pipeline, SolarWinds and Kaseya. In 2021, our Project Memoria revealed close to 100 different vulnerabilities in common TCP/IP stacks, affecting hundreds of operational technology (OT) vendors.

Executive Order 14028 on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity was released in May with nine sections outlining specific focus areas for security improvements. As we noted at the time, Netskope applauded the EO for how it placed significant emphasis on zero trust security adoption, mentioning it no fewer than 11 times, and insisting on proactive action.

Kevin Kerr, Lead Security Principal Consultant at Trustwave, participated in a discussion on Zero Trust with Steve Riley, Field CTO at Netskope during SASE Week 2021. The importance of Zero Trust is derived from how it functions. Instead of focusing on protecting a physical network, a Zero Trust network works by focusing on securing the resources that reside on or have access to the network such as data, identities, and services.

In a recent Tripwire survey, over 300 respondents from both private and public sectors said that implementing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) could materially improve cybersecurity outcomes. This result seems like a positive outcome since we don’t often get such a unanimously high confidence level in a specific security approach from survey data.

More than a year of near-universal remote work has proven that many of us can reliably stay productive from anywhere — whether it be from home, co-working spaces or otherwise. Businesses have caught wind of this, and according to IDC, 60% of them will continue with remote work or implement a hybrid model even after they reopen their offices again. This calls for a paradigm shift in the way we conduct cybersecurity.