Three cybersecurity essentials your business needs for 2021

As we step into 2021, now is a good time to review some of the biggest cybersecurity influences of 2020 and see how we can approach this important business aspect for 2021. At J&L, we understand the complexities of cybersecurity and we’re here to help you secure your operations and plug any gaps in your IT network.

2020 has been a year like no other in almost every industry sector. As businesses adapted fast to safeguard their employees and operations, the cybercriminals sat up straight and took notice. They will often exploit changes in user behaviours, habits and processes and 2020 has delivered many, many opportunities for them to do so.

As we face continuing uncertainty in the coming months during the health crisis, we’ve come up with some of the top cybersecurity essentials for your business in 2021. Let’s see how we can work together to combat cyber thieves and protect your IT network.

Cybersecurity for your IT network with remote workers

Remote working has become common practice in 2020. Initially enforced during stay-at-home orders during the lockdown, many businesses were unprepared from a security perspective. This became an opportunity for cybercriminals and instances of phishing, ransomware and other cyber attacks increased significantly. With many work-at-home initiatives holding ground for the foreseeable future and some businesses implementing them for the longer-term, there has never been a more critical time to understand the importance of cybersecurity across the remote network.

Also commonplace during the pandemic, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) vulnerabilities increased within remote working teams. BYOD practices have been causing issues since before lockdown and remote working became the new normal. This is often because they rely on endpoint protection within the workplace. Now, and during 2021 it is critical to address these potential vulnerabilities and safeguard the entire IT network from these types of cyberattacks.

As almost 25% of organisations faced fines for cybersecurity breaches, there are also financial reasons for businesses to tackle cyber issues. Remote workers provide the perfect entry point for cybercriminals to access corporate IT systems. Securing these entry points is critical.

J&L know that cybersecurity is an almost organic entity – evolving, adapting and reinventing many times over to avoid detection within your most critical operations. We ensure, through regular processes (such as penetration testing, for example) that you always know which gaps to plug and how.

Build your walls high and raise cyber awareness

It is clear that raising cybersecurity awareness is going to be an important part of the IT security strategy for businesses of all sizes in 2021. Organisations with security teams and departments keep on top of the latest attacks and test systems regularly for vulnerabilities.

Penetration testing can be used in several ways to secure your operations:

• Pinpoint IT system vulnerabilities and potential entry points
• Determine where and what data is likely to be breached
• Identify vulnerable public business information
• Test security beyond the firewall

It can also be used as an effective security awareness tool as a part of a cybersecurity training program. J&L work closely with some of our IT security services clients in two ways for effective training:

• Blind testing – this is when we only have the business name and make an access attempt with the security team aware and waiting to spot us.
• Double-blind testing – security teams have no prior knowledge of our access attempt.

Raising cybersecurity awareness across the entire workforce should be a priority for 2021. This will be important whether employees are remote, in-house or both. Talk to us about how we can help you to raise cybersecurity awareness in your business.

Accelerating digital transformation in 2021

Across the UK, businesses of all sizes have been faced with digital transformation efforts. Whether large or small scale, this is a positive aspect of the effects of COVID-19 on the tech world. Although a hot tech topic for some years now, digital transformation has largely been misunderstood or placed on the ‘back burner’ where some industry experts feel it would have stayed.

Highlighting the need for digital transformation, COVID-19 has driven businesses to accelerate plans and achieve greater flexibility across the workforce. Updating IT systems and implementing new digital processes can provide the perfect platform to enhance cybersecurity.

This is a major part of future-proofing the business, regardless of size and in many cases, budget. J&L work with businesses of all sizes to make sure your IT system works for you and delivers exactly what you need it to.

Let us help you with digital transformation, cybersecurity essentials for remote workers, cyber awareness training and together we can beat the cybercriminals. Talk to us today on +44 (0)1293 127 128 and arrange your cybersecurity consultation.

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