As enterprises start preparing to put the chaos of 2022 behind and focus on 2023, It is imperative to understand one aspect that cannot be “put behind.” Enterprise security remains a fundamental aspect that enterprises should not overlook.

 Security threats and concerns continue to haunt security teams across all forms of enterprises. Novice enterprise security threats and vulnerabilities continue to rear their ugly faces, dismantling normal corporate operations and causing panic and mayhem among security teams.

To survive the relentless ghost of cybersecurity threats, one should be steps ahead of the attackers. This article will explain how one can be ahead of attackers by exploring the indispensable emerging issues and trends in enterprise security. But before we dive into the trends, let us first learn what it means by enterprise security is, why it is of great essence, and how it can be achieved. 

What Is Enterprise Security?

The term “enterprise security” refers to all the strategies, methods, tools, and infrastructure deployed to safeguard an organization’s assets and resources from security threats. 

The security threats could exist in the form of asset thefts, cyberattacks, unauthorized resource access, or data breaches. It should be noted enterprise security is a multifarious subject that encompasses intrinsic business secrets and data and sensitive user data. 

Also, enterprise security addresses the subjects of people and policies companies use to secure their infrastructure. This aspect is of much weight to all companies and organizations. We have already witnessed large entities such as Equifax and Yahoo face heavy fines and government restrictions due to breaches that led to the loss of sensitive data. 

Why is Enterprise Security Important?

There are immense benefits that come with enterprise security. Corporates are facing a surge in the number of security attacks and breaches, and the attacks are expected to continue increasing in years to come. These attacks often come with heavy impacts that organizations might find unbearable. According to IBM’S 2021 cost of data breach report, the total cost of data breaches as of 2021 stood at an average of $4.24 Million. To avoid such heavy costs, enterprises should install adequate infrastructure to prevent such enterprise-related security threats. 

Secondly, enterprise security helps to build user trust. You must be aware of how the technological world has blurred the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. Today, most consumers prefer buying things virtually than physically. eCommerce sales are projected to hit 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025. 

One of the key defining factors for the success of an eCommerce store is the users’ trust in the store. And one factor that determines whether users trust an eCommerce store is website security. 

If users have a reason to believe that a website might be insecure, they will not visit such a website. This might, in turn, hurt your conversion rates and revenues. A user can easily and quickly establish whether a website is secure by looking at the address bar of the website. HTTPS websites are known to be more secure than HTTP websites. The reason is that HTTPS websites have SSL certificates that initiate encrypted sessions for safe transactions and communications. In other words, if you want to improve your site security and trust, you must buy SSL certificates and Install it on your website. 

Top Enterprise Security Trends

The following are some of the leading enterprise security trends we are more likely to witness in 2023. 

• Remote Working Security

We all know what COVID-19 did to the working landscape. Although remote work had existed long before the pandemic, its adoption increased during the pandemic as more and more companies strived to continue with normal business operations despite the strict lockdowns and movement restrictions. According to the State of Remote Working Report released by Owl Labs, 69% of organizations had their employees working remotely during and after the pandemic. 

But the new remote landscape did not come without its share of difficulties. Cyber attackers shifted their attention to remote workers and found them more vulnerable. 

According to a survey posted by Malwarebytes Labs in August 2020, 20% of enterprises experienced a cyber attack as a result of a vulnerability caused by a remote worker. Remote working will continue to dominate, and so will the related security threats. Some of the remote-working security threats include phishing attacks, password vulnerabilities, and unsecured home devices.

Similarly, with the rising concerns of remote working security threats, it was imperative to introduce new measures that would help address the aspects of remote working vulnerabilities. For instance, there was a need to secure the home WiFi and introduce VPNs in the remote working landscape, among many other best practices. 

• Digital Supply Chain Security Threats

Cyber attackers continue to employ more advanced and sophisticated techniques to target remote workers, and part of their attention seems to have shifted to the supply chains. 

The SolarWind security breach is one example that proves that attackers have turned their attention to supply chains. In its case, the attacker targeted several renowned companies and government agencies. They used a specialized form of attack called Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) that has proved so elusive to the point of not being detected by antivirus scanners. Such creative attacks might be a drop in the ocean of what is to come in 2023.

• Persistence of Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware has been prevalent in 2022, and this trend will likely continue in 2023. Like remote working attackers, ransomware attacks have fully leveraged the chaos of the pandemic and continue to run riot, especially in the healthcare sector. 

Attackers have realized that ransomware attacks yield better results, so they use this attack to the fullest. One of the most common trends with this type of attack is the aspect of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS). With Ransomware as a Service, attackers can pay to use a ransomware code which they will use to run a ransomware campaign. 

With the increase in ransomware attacks, there is a need to put adequate measures to prevent such attacks. For instance, enterprises could employ zero trust access, endpoint security, and cloud-computing security solutions such as SASE. 

The Colonial Pipeline attack is one perfect example of how devastating ransomware attacks could be and why enterprises need to safeguard themselves against such attacks. 

• The Evolution of the Internet of Things and Related Security Concerns

The internet of things is all those components that use the internet, other than computers, servers, and phones. Most organizations have adopted IoT technology, creating more avenues for cybercrime. 

According to Business Insider, there will be more than 64 billion IoT devices by 2026. Internet of things might include things like smartwatches and smart refrigerators.

The many IoT devices in an organization, the broader the attack surface. The attack surface refers to the potential entry points that an attacker can use to enter an organization’s systems. Because IoT devices come with less processing capability, it is not easy to deploy security mechanisms like firewalls and antimalware scanners. For this reason, attackers have taken advantage of them and used them for malicious reasons. As a result, the internet of things landscape is discussed as one of the emerging issues in enterprise security. 

• The Dominance of Cloud Computing Services and Related Threats

Cloud computing is one of the most disruptive technologies we have witnessed recently. According to PandaSecurity, 48% of global enterprises store their data in the clouds. The 2020 Data Attack Surface Report projects that more than 200 zettabytes will be held in the cloud by 2025. We know data to be a crucial asset and one of the most sought-after things by hackers. As the adoption of cloud computing services continues to hit extreme heights, so do the cloud-computing threats. 

It is important to understand that cloud-computing services are a prime target to attackers. Misconfigured cloud-computing infrastructure is one of the major causes of cloud-related threats. Other causes are cloud migration issues, insider threats, account hijacking, and insecure interfaces. So, with the increased adoption of cloud computing and large amounts of data stored in the cloud, we can only anticipate more cloud security threats as we move to 2023. 

• More Sophisticated Social Engineering Attacks

Phishing and spear-phishing attacks are not new in the cybersecurity world. However, social engineering attackers have adopted clever methods and techniques to deploy and execute these attacks. Attackers have also shifted their attention to remote workers as they have proved easy targets. New social engineering attacks have also cropped up to add more pain to the already existing attacks. For instance, Whaling attacks targeting executive executives and organization leaders is a fairly new social engineering attack that is being adopted widely. 

Another novice social engineering attack that has gained prominence over the years is the Smishing attack. These attacks leverage messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Slack, and Skype to try and trick unsuspecting users into downloading an attachment or clicking on a link that could be harmful to the point of spreading malware to victims’ networks. 

Another variation of social engineering attacks is the Voice Phishing attack which became more prevalent in the 2020 Twitter hack. As you notice, social engineering attacks are taking new directions daily, and more attack variations that try to trick users into downloading malicious software or downloading a malicious attachment continue to crop up year after year. We should anticipate more such attacks in 2023. 

• The Evolution of Multi-factor Authentication

Passwords are the most popular authentication factor that most people use to enter their accounts. However, passwords have proved quite unreliable as hackers using brute force and dictionary attacks have succeeded in getting past them. Two-factor authentication has been so vital in boosting authentication security. With two-factor authentication, it is hard for attackers to access an account or network without the second authentication factor. Two-factor authentication factors such as using one-time passwords, secret words, and codes have been around for a while. However, there are a few trends worth noting that are expected to gain more dominance as we head to 2023. 

One of the leading trends we are witnessing in the 2FA is the use of biometric authentication. Biometric authentication, as we know them, cannot be easily accessed by attackers, and this is why most enterprises prefer them. One of the dominant 2FA is facial recognition. Statista estimates the facial recognition market to grow to 7 billion by 2024. 

Voice recognition and fingerprint identities also take center stage as vital two-factor authentications. It is projected that by the end of 2022, the Fingerprint on Display (FOD) will be available. This technology is characterized by the ability to integrate ultrasonic and optical recognition solutions. The voice recognition market is projected to grow to USD 27.16 billion by 2025, implying these technologies’ dominance in years to come.

• Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Enterprise Security

One fact that remains true with enterprise security is that it is not possible for humans to handle every threat. With this fact in mind, organizations are now leveraging the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to help with some enterprise security issues. 

Artificial intelligence has been paramount in the creation of automated security systems. We have already mentioned the aspects of voice and facial recognition, which are excellent examples of how artificial intelligence is applied in cybersecurity. Another perfect example of how these technologies are used in cybersecurity is through automatic threat detection systems. We should anticipate more AI technologies to play a vital role in enterprise security as we head into 2022. 

Enterprise Cybersecurity Solutions

The issue of enterprise security should be taken with a lot of seriousness. Cybersecurity comes with many severe repercussions that can leave an organization on its deathbed and with a damaged reputation, serious financial damages, and massive data losses. 

The best way to stay safe from such impacts is to install adequate measures to mitigate the related threats. One of the cybersecurity best practices I will recommend for any enterprise is using an SSL certificate. SSL certificates are like the backbone of data security. Their unique encryption power makes them well-suited to safeguard user data from attacks that might seek to steal or compromise sensitive user data. 

Enterprises wishing to boost their data security must buy SSL certificates and install them on their websites. Other enterprise security best practices you can use to increase security for your enterprise are mentioned below:

• Conducting frequent software and operating system updates
• Conducting regular penetration testing
• Employing secure file-sharing solutions
• Installing security firewalls
• Using antivirus and antimalware software
• Using virtual private networks
• Adhering to the best password passwords
• Enabling the two-factor authentication
• Avoiding using public networks
• Leading consistent cybersecurity training and awareness programs
• Frequent data backups 

Conclusion

Enterprises are the prime targets of hackers. Hackers employ very sophisticated and clever means to infiltrate networks. Hackers are trendy, and so should the enterprises be. As we welcome 2023, there are several enterprise security trends every enterprise owner or security expert must be well-acquainted with. This article has explored some of the security trends enterprises are more likely to witness in 2023.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Jason Parms focuses on customer service at SSL2BUY, which offers diversified SSL security products.

Do you have information to share with Identity Review? Email us at press@identityreview.com. Find us on Twitter.

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