Cybersecurity Trends in 2022

January 13, 2022

In an increasingly online world, cybersecurity has become more critical than ever. This is particularly true for companies and organizations that handle personal or sensitive data of consumers and citizens. Why is Cybersecurity so Important? With the huge prevalence of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and organizations are increasingly doing their work online. […]

In an increasingly online world, cybersecurity has become more critical than ever. This is particularly true for companies and organizations that handle personal or sensitive data of consumers and citizens.

Why is Cybersecurity so Important?

With the huge prevalence of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and organizations are increasingly doing their work online. No matter if all business is done in the cloud or completed on a company’s VPN, this method of working needs to take in a whole new consideration of cybersecurity. Is your client’s personal information secure? Have your employees been trained in common phishing and social engineering attacks?

man in front of screen with cybersecurity icons

Increasingly, clients and organizations look into a company’s cybersecurity protections to determine if they want to give them their business. In fact, Gartner reports that, “By 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.”

Not only do businesses need top cybersecurity strategies to keep their own organizations secure, they also need it to attract and retain clients.

Of course, cybersecurity changes year by year, so it’s important that companies focus on it and make sure the tools and software they use have top security features and options. To that end, let’s look at some top cybersecurity trends for this year.

Top Five Cybersecurity Trends for 2022

Ransomware

Ransoms have less to do with kidnapping now and more to do with cybersecurity. Hackers are creating malware that threatens to publish private information or permanently encrypt important data unless they’re paid a ransom to remove the malware.

Many hackers now use RaaS (Ransomware as a Service)—ransomware that’s already been created to perpetuate attacks more easily.

Ransomware is being used in large attacks too, like it was for the Colonial Pipeline attack in 2021. The pipeline supplies gas to about 50% of the East Coast of the US and caused panic buying along with spikes in gas prices. Colonial had to pay $4.4 million to have the ransomware removed. Attacks like this will only become more prevalent as hackers become more sophisticated and go after bigger and bigger targets.

Internet of things

The IoT (Internet of Things) is an aspect of cybersecurity many people don’t consider, but in our increasingly tech-focused world, the IoT applies to the physical “things” in our lives filled with sensors and software that communicate and send data online. These “things” can be anything from the smart devices that turn on your lights and music to smart-driving cars. IoT will only increase in everyone’s daily life and make us more reliant on the internet and our devices. What many people don’t realize is that all these devices can be hacked as well. Devices and the companies that create them need to focus on increasing their cybersecurity as well.

Attacks on the Cloud

Increasingly, companies are using the cloud to store their data and files. At a time when WFH is here to stay, the cloud is an important tool that allows employees to access data and files from anywhere at any time. However, hackers are also taking note of the increased reliance on the cloud, which means they’re increasing their attacks on it as well.

Phishing/Social Engineering

Phishing and social engineering use employees against their own companies by sending malicious links and messages to employees to try to gain access to their passwords or devices. These techniques have been around for years, but they are consistently one of the top ways hackers gain access. Many believe that these schemes will only become more targeted and sophisticated, so it’s important that companies have training in place to teach their employees what to look for.

Increasing Regulations

We’ve talked a lot about the ways in which hackers are becoming more sophisticated and problematic. Countries are trying to tackle these emerging issues by enacting laws to increase cybersecurity protections. Regulations like the GDPR (a data protection law) requires certain security protections for EU residents/citizens’ information. Failure to comply with this regulation and the many others like it can result in huge fines for companies, possibly even civil or criminal charges, if they don’t take cybersecurity seriously.

Thankfully, companies and organizations are not alone when it comes to protecting their data.

FileCloud as a Hyper-Secure Solution

FileCloud is a file storage and sharing tool that allows companies to keep track of and protect their data.

Security has always been a top priority for FileCloud, and with the increase in hackers and malicious software, FileCloud understands that now is the time for a hyper-secure file sharing and storage tool that companies can still use with ease.

FileCloud’s Compliance Center helps organizations achieve and maintain compliance with ITAR, HIPAA, and GDPR tabs that provide best practices and easy-to-enact rules.

In addition, FileCloud has many excellent security and compliance options like:

Cybersecurity is not something companies and organizations can ignore or put on the back burner anymore. The trends show that hackers are only getting more sophisticated and malicious.

However, it is possible to keep your company or organization secure and compliant by using a hyper-secure file sharing and storage solution like FileCloud. FileCloud helps protect your data so that you can continue focusing on important work, knowing that you (and your clients) are secure and compliant.

By Megan Barnard

Digital Content Specialist