To claim that 2021 was an exceptional 12 months for SMB cybersecurity would be an understatement. Security leaders are closer to seeing the disease in their own organizations and ransomware is increasing. The cost of a security breach is rising. Many small and medium-sized businesses are placed in a position to make security first.
It is a challenge to find a balance between reopening the office. Then you have the process of encouraging workers who have been absent for two years to return. The times have changed, and the “old ways of doing things” is no longer sufficient. The current “norm” implies that organizations won’t have the luxury of ignoring security anymore.
Security has moved to the highest priority on the list and will not be going away. But it’s true that rolling the security strategy of their organization will be a challenge and a source of challenges. Let’s review the security challenges smaller and mid-sized businesses are likely to face in the course of 2022.
The Talent Challenge:
Talented small and medium-sized business cybersecurity employees are tough to find, and top ones are becoming more costly to keep. Some small and medium sized business has seen skilled employees leave their jobs. It’s difficult to find good talent within the SMB cybersecurity budget without impacting commitments given to the leadership team.
The SMB Cybersecurity Talent Predictions:
Information and security (IT) businesses across the world are facing similar challenges. They must make several difficult decisions. Do they need to employment agencies to find the best talent? Should they pay for the talent they’ve already sourced themselves and handle the aftermath in the future?
Do they wait to find the perfect candidate for the right job at the right cost even if it’s for months? Do they instruct their employees internally, only to see them leave a year for a better position and better pay?
This requires a focus on the outcome. For network security professionals, the goal is to minimize the chance for a hacker to succeed. Should one succeed, the next step is to stop any attack that is successful before the business suffers any damages. To do this effectively, security teams require the appropriate tools to complete the task.
A recent study conducted by (ISC) 2 stated that organizations must increase their SMB cybersecurity security staff by 65%. If this is not possible, you can always outsource.
SMBs need to efficiently protect their assets. For smaller and mid-sized businesses this is not an achievable solution. Going outside might be the most effective method to achieve these goals. Third-party managed security service (MSS), and managed detection and response (MDR) vendors might assist in sourcing the skills needed.
IT security solutions providers like the NY/FL Nerds (MSS) make it easy for any organization to protect its critical infrastructure. They offer cybersecurity solutions for the computer systems, cyber threats, mitigation, and more.
SMB Cybersecurity Challenges Budget
IT budgets are being drained to thwart cybercriminals, data breaches, and phishing attacks. Cybersecurity is finally receiving it’s needed board-level visibility.
Ransomware gangs are stealing their profits and reinvesting them in their criminal enterprise and essentially enhancing their skills. This has led to the increasing visibility of cybercrime. It’s also led to the increased importance given to cybersecurity efforts.
The main challenge faced by security firms is to determine where cyber dollars are spent. SMB Cybersecurity threats are always evolving and improving, and unfortunately, there isn’t a solution that is a silver solution. If you ask a question, security officials aren’t convinced that they’re more secure this year than in the past.
The last decade of spending proves that the current methods are or haven’t been effective or sufficient. Should an organization be willing to accept the risk to its business of limited protection? Most of us would say the answer is “No” So, what exactly does it mean?
Smb Cybersecurity Budget Outlook:
It’s a fact that any security program based solely on the best prevention tools is not enough. To ensure a high-quality security position, balancing investment across prevention is crucial.
EDR or Endpoint Detection (EDR) instruments have proven to be an enormous improvement over previous A/V software. There has been an explosive expansion in the EDR market is certainly backing that up.
In the past year, we have seen an increase in the use of tools that extend over the entire endpoint. The best detection strategy utilizes these ideas, but only securing a fraction of the possible threats doesn’t suffice. The most significant issue is the false perception of security it could offer.
Tools like EDR and XDR can enhance the security of an organization, they’re not the be-all-end-all.
Look at two scenarios:
- What are the purposes of devices if an organization cannot hire or train its employees to use them?
- What happens if the employees of a medium or small company already are overwhelmed by taking on the new tool?
Establishing the appropriate combination of processes, people, and tools based on the organizational capabilities will lead to more tangible results.
There are always tools available to tackle every issue available. Each tool requires dedicated expertise and resources to assess the tools, and maintain and manage them. Most organizations are unable to afford it. Therefore, a controlled approach can save money.
It will also allow security teams to spend time on projects that are crucial.
The SMB Cybersecurity Changing Environment Challenge:
This is not a new issue. This reflects the absence of procedures developed by teams from the IT as well as Security departments. In the past two years, the stakes have increased much riskier.
Due to the increased ransomware, criminals can attack targets like computer networks with more agility. It’s easy for a hacker to receive payments via cryptocurrencies that are not traceable. Antivirus software is helpful, but often useless.
It also is more difficult to spot and prevent the threat. The regular headlines on the news can only encourage adversaries to continue their attacks.
The SMB Cybersecurity Challenge of Change:
Ransomware will remain an issue through 2022 and beyond. Compromised credentials and misconfigured configurations serve as one of the most frequently used attacks by cybercriminals. There’s no surprise that ransomware remains a problem. Ransomware affects critical infrastructure like fuel delivery systems.
Unsurprisingly, in 2022 the frequency of ransomware cyber-attacks doubled compared to the prior year, according to the report for 2021. Verizon DBIR Executive Report.
Traditionally patching has been the most tried-and-tested method of proactively reducing weaknesses. This is difficult since patching has been a problem, but organizations continue to have a hard time getting it right. Even after being alerted of active vulnerabilities on similar platforms, the users may be unable to tackle their vulnerability. The process of patching was too complicated.
It’s easy to overload tools and people but the most effective approach to tackle issues is through a three-step method:
- Make sure you are proactively patching your program
- The program can be enhanced with the ability to patch in an emergency.
- Create a complete detection and response strategy to identify threats that are able to elude the defenses
Many MDR manufacturers are creating automated responses. Securing configurations and systems networks was not considered to be a key responsibility or capability that can be automated response. Response actions are usually initiated to respond to incidents and breaches. IT and security teams have the opportunity to make use of response actions for emergencies with patching.
Inactive exploits, the seconds can be crucial and companies don’t have the time to delay until that next window for patching. Making use of existing instruments, along with all the necessary integrations, makes the process much easier. Some organizations might not be keen on fully automated action plans even in an emergency. Having a manual-guided emergency response with an approval procedure that is manually performed will certainly help address this issue.
SMB CyberSecurity Patching
The challenge of process misalignment between teams could be due to the shift in stakeholders. In the past, IT has called the decisions regarding patching.
However, in recent years, security professionals have been a participant at the table. Security personnel, in certain instances, is now in charge of making decisions regarding traditional IT processes. From a tools and people viewpoint, it’s important to keep in mind that organizations can’t do this on their own. Therefore MSS (patching), as well as MDR collaborations, can be the most cost-effective solution.
3 More SMB CyberSecurity Challenges
Three major challenges that organizations face in 2022: securing and keeping employees, ensuring security, and keeping up with world changes.
Maximizing the return requires some innovative thinking. Reconsider your position and ask yourself What is your organization’s capacity? Do you have the skills, budget, and resources to manage security on the scale that your business requires? If not, you should take a deeper examine managed services.
MSS and MDR help solve various issues. Deciding which to use will help you determine which vendors to consider. MSS is ideal for the administration of tools already in place. MDR is best suited for people who want an enhanced detection and response strategy for their security.
The ideal MDR blends both post- and pre-breach protection across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. It’s not just to lower the risk for an attack but to lessen the effect of an attack. When you have the right combination of technology, threat intelligence, and experience, organizations are able to attain their business goals.
The Takeaway:
IT Security is an ever-evolving world. No matter the tools that you or your business currently employ, you’re always going to need solid staffing behind them. Sometimes the IT budget lacks a Chief Security Officer or anything security related for that matter.
Hiring an external IT security firm may be the answer. Consider what you’d pay for the CSO just mentioned – for the same
spend you can have an entire TEAM of folks watching your back – and doing so 24/7/365
When considering your next IT Security move, call the SMB Cybersecurity TEAM you can trust. Thousands do in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, and Florida.