The COVID-19 era has drastically changed the working environment as remote work has become the norm rather than the exception for managers and employees. This shift has also made organizations much more vulnerable to cyberattacks. The following will discuss the Top 10 Cybersecurity Trends for 2021 as determined by IT security experts.

1) Remote Work Increasing

More and more organizations have employees working off premises, including in their homes, due to the pandemic. As a result, they must draft and enforce effective remote work policies. In addition, companies must ensure their data is safe by implementing cybersecurity solutions that protect their IT networks when workers access them remotely.

2) Phishing Hurting More

Phishing has been the leading cause of data breaches for years, and incidents are increasing. Four out of five workers now say they have gotten phishing emails and there is a 15% greater chance that an employee will open a malicious link. Phishing emails are fake emails appearing to be from a legitimate source that occasionally fool an employee into divulging sensitive data.

3) Increased Authentication

Implementation of multi-factor authentication (MFA) by organizations rose 18% this past year and now more than 80% of businesses use it. Using fingerprints and facial recognition, biometric data security is now being used by more than 50% of businesses in 2020.

4) Ransomware More Prevalent

During the past year, almost 33% of businesses were affected by ransomware. Three out of four companies paid the ransom to regain access to their data but unfortunately, just 70% that did successfully retrieved data.

5) Data Privacy

Businesses have adapted to stricter government regulations regarding data privacy. As a result, compliance with the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) has grown significantly during the past 12 months.
Part 2 will continue discussing the remaining 5 Top 10 Cybersecurity Trends for 2021.
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