Another year at Aurora in the books! In 2021 we made some big leaps. During the first quarter, we joined the Plurilock Family in Plurilock’s first acquisition. Our team has gained new resources, new security solutions to champion, and new partnerships. Aurora’s team won new contracts, received several ISO certifications, and continued to solve our customers’ complex technology problems.
From a cybersecurity point of view, 2021 has been a big year for ransomware attacks and innovation. Like you, I remember getting wrapped up in learning about the Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya, JBS Foods, and more. While attacks are detrimental for the organization affected, they are an opportunity for us as cybersecurity leaders to further our mission and ensure that our clients have the best tools and processes possible. Thankfully, cybersecurity leaders and Aurora partners have been innovating to keep up with these attacks. We’ve seen tools that rely on artificial intelligence like XDR, Behavioral Biometrics, and Security Access Service Edge, gain popularity to solve customer problems. Not to mention the promise of technological innovation in general, such as the metaverse, Web 3.0, 5G and so much more. While it’s impossible to predict what’s to come in 2022, I have a couple of ideas…
Ransomware will continue to be top of mind.
This one is obvious, unfortunately. Thus far, most of the ransomware attacks that we hear about are affecting large businesses that are easy targets with lots of resources. I anticipate we will begin to see more mid-sized businesses being affected by ransomware. Mid-sized businesses may not be equipped with as much cybersecurity technology and resources, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. My advice to small and mid-sized businesses moving forward would be to make cybersecurity a part of your business culture. Even though you are not a large Fortune 500 company, you are still an excellent target for a cyberattack, especially if you have vulnerabilities that make it easy for hackers to access sensitive data. As we enter 2022, all organizations, no matter the size, should be focusing on cybersecurity and gearing up for another year of the “ransomware pandemic.”
Zero Trust will be everywhere.
Work from Home (WFH) forced us to begin testing the waters with Zero Trust. And now that we are past early adoption, Zero Trust will now be a mainstay with organizations, especially small or mid-sized companies looking to implement. Whether your organization is B2B or B2C, zero trust should be an utmost priority. This means using tools such as Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, and Continuous Behavioral Authentication to ensure that the person accessing your data is who they say they are.
Increased Government Regulations will continue.
In May of this year, the White House released an executive order on the state of cybersecurity. It highlighted requirements for government contractors to obtain basic cybersecurity practices such as MFA. Since the initial announcement, the US government has released additional requirements and public sector funding for cybersecurity. Recent NISPOM updates further strengthen the Federal initiative. Many experts believe that while the public sector is where these government requirements begin, soon most industries will have cybersecurity follow with mass adoption and Standardization.
AI is the Next Big Frontier.
Not sure if this is a result of WFH giving us all a bunch of extra time sans commute but I am grateful for all the new and fun stuff to play with. Artificial Intelligence is now starting to be an integral part of a majority of cybersecurity products that we work with, and AI will be a significant part of our everyday life. We have been seeing an increase in AI for the past several years, I expect to see even more AI in everyday life over this next year. Your Ring security can tell you are not home and arm your house in case you forget, or your tankless water heater can learn that you reach for warm water for coffee at 6 am daily and be ready. Rapid changes have been the result of the pandemic, and as we continue to see the effects of the pandemic, AI will only continue to play a significant role.
