By John Scimone, President, Chief Security Officer, Dell Technologies
As we enter the new year with a backdrop of economic uncertainty, it’s critical organizations prioritize addressing the longstanding security challenges the industry continues to struggle with and attackers continue to compromise. Threat actors are opportunistic and will target the easiest, most accessible weak point they find. With an emphasis on cybersecurity fundamentals, organizations will be better prepared for the new year and beyond.
During challenging economic times, we should expect to see an increase in crime including incidents of insider threats. While these incidents may not have malicious intent, such as employees taking work files to give them a leg up in a new job should they become unemployed, they pose a risk to the organization. By prioritizing the basics like employee security training, organizations can help ensure information remains protected.
Cybersecurity fundamentals, while they may sound easy or even obvious, are measures organizations continue to find incredibly difficult to implement across their enterprises. In addition to employee training, other areas that remain essential include establishing and maintaining a complete inventory of all technology assets (laptops, servers, domain websites, cloud instances, etc.), aggressive scanning for and timely patching of vulnerabilities on those assets, and comprehensive monitoring of all assets using modern cybersecurity tools.
My main prediction this year is that my prediction next year will not change. Cybersecurity fundamentals will continue to remain elusive to most organizations, despite it being more important now than ever to become “brilliant at the basics” when it comes to cybersecurity.
– John Scimone, President, Chief Security Officer, Dell Technologies
