The widespread adoption of cloud computing and remote work arrangements have rendered a traditional, perimeter-based security approach obsolete. A company’s applications and data are no longer confined within the four walls of a data center, allowing users and devices to join your network from anywhere, at any time.
A more distributed environment demands a new security posture. To effectively mitigate risk, security must be embedded in every layer of your tech stack rather than being applied from outside. But few companies have faced up to this reality, leaving themselves vulnerable to new threats. In 2020 alone, U.S. organizations were hit with 650,000 ransomware attacks — more than one every 10 minutes — as bad actors took advantage of security gaps.
Delaying the evolution of your organization’s security is a big mistake. As your organization scales, so does the magnitude of the security threats you face. Larger companies have a larger footprint to defend and more to lose if those defenses fail. To avoid costly growing pains, the time to start planning a modern security strategy is today.
Why compliance isn’t enough
Why are so many companies lagging behind in addressing these new risks? Too often, it’s because company leaders aren’t able to keep up with the changing threat landscape. This is often a result of one of the biggest security challenges organizations face today: a massive talent gap. Almost two-thirds (64%) of cybersecurity professionals report staffing shortages at their organizations. Without access to adequate security talent, leaders lack visibility into how the security environment has changed and what threats they face.
As a result, organizations tend to fall back on ticking the boxes for compliance with their industry’s security and data privacy standards rather than figuring out what it takes to actually secure their tech infrastructure. Don’t get me wrong: Compliance with rules and regulations like HIPAA and PCI is important. But compliance on its own won’t mitigate the impact of a ransomware attack or help you recover from one after you’ve been hit.
Five steps to a scalable security posture
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