Data breach attacks are only getting more sophisticated and gaining more traction. They're happening to individuals at home, employees within organizations who click on the wrong link, CEOs who are targeted in a  Business Email Compromise, and the list goes on. What's even worse is that small- to medium-sized businesses are more of a target than the large corporations. According to Verizon's 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, 61% of all data breach victims are businesses under 1,000 employees. 

In a recent presentation to business leaders, Kent Goodrow, a Systems Engineering client Account Manager, spoke about the evolution of identity and access management (IAM). He noted the increasing business exposure to modern threats due to work-from-anywhere, cloud-first environments. Kent detailed how IAM has evolved over the last few years and how it now works to protect access to corporate resources. Below is an outline of his presentation on implementing IAM as your organization's first line of defense.

Has your small and medium-sized business (SMB) moved to the cloud but has not enabled Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)? This tool is a proven game-changer for data security in the fast-growing shift to remote work. So why do statistics show that enforcing MFA within organizations is very low? MFA is a cloud security essential and simply needs to be enabled and enforced to provide secure end-user access to your corporate data. Here is a look at some revealing statistics that show just how important MFA is at keeping cybercriminals out of your network.

When it comes to cloud security, ensuring your sensitive data remains secure is a bigger challenge than ever. Cyberattacks are on the rise, and according to "The State of Ransomware 2020" report, businesses are attacked by cybercriminals every 11 seconds. The cost of these increasing attacks is anticipated to be around $20 billion by 2021.  So how can your small to medium-sized business (SMB) protect against these organized cyberattacks? Below we review data loss prevention (DLP), which is part of a multi-layer security strategy. DLP is designed to stop the accidental (or intentional) loss of sensitive information from an organization's network, before it's too late.

Have you noticed consumer and business sites including mobile applications requiring multiple steps to verify who you are? Perhaps you’ve set up a multi-step verification method to access your bank or personal email account?  This security measure is growing in popularity as most data breaches today begin

As you begin to adopt cloud-based services, your network becomes more expansive and potentially more porous. Today, you most likely have a flexible hybrid workforce who are working remotely using a mix of personal and company-issued devices to access your network and its critical data. It may be the case that your data is now being shared and stored in platforms that may not be approved or known by your IT department. These examples demonstrate vulnerabilities within your network and we outline the cloud security essentials your business should have in place to reduce and mitigate cloud threats.

Current events have forced many businesses into quickly enabling staff to work from anywhere at any time. Desktops were replaced by laptops that could be taken home, staff using personal devices to access company data, and quick adoption of cloud and mobile apps. The ability to keep your business running took precedence over strategic planning, and now is the time to enable your remote workforce to be productive and secure. This  mobile workforce evolution comes with many benefits, but if it’s not approached with careful thought and planning, it can also come with a unacceptable level of risk.