RSA Conference 2021: Important Lessons from This Year’s Meeting

The 2021 RSA Conference certainly looked a bit different this year, as top cybersecurity professionals gathered virtually for keynotes, interactive programs, seminars, and tutorials.

Now that we have had the time to digest the information from sessions on privacy, machine learning and AI, analytics, risk management, and governance, we thought it would be important to share some of the key takeaways from this year’s conference, how Thrive is working to implement new strategies, and what it all means for your organization moving forward.

Asset Management is Growing

IT asset management is essentially the process of ensuring that all business assets are properly accounted for, maintained, upgraded, and replaced in a timely fashion. IT assets may include hardware, software systems, and mobile assets. With the increase in Cloud usage in recent years, that also plays a role in asset management.

Within a single organization, there may be desktop computers, monitors, laptops, all different kinds of software, and even items like printers, scanners, and copiers. IT asset management is becoming more and more necessary, as companies must keep up with what needs to be protected. The proliferation of Cloud services and increase in work-from-home setups post-COVID only makes this more challenging.

Thrive offers asset management solutions that reduce costs, improve compliance, and provide increased control over IT assets.

Security Awareness Becomes Security Appreciation

Sentiment is growing that some security awareness training platforms aren’t executing on the value that was hoped for. The general consensus is that end users will need to appreciate the need for security, instead of simply being aware of it. So, how can an organization ensure that end users are up to date with the latest security trends?

Many security awareness solutions are going back to the drawing board to make training more personal and engaging. When employees care about the security of company data, the overall security posture within an organization increases greatly.

Social engineering, phishing attacks, and credential theft will impact businesses for years to come. Thrive’s Cyber Security Bundle offers training through simulated phishing attacks, along with interactive videos that engage the end user and help them gain a better understanding about security posture.

AI and Machine Learning as an Attack Vector

Preventing ransomware is top of mind for chief information security officers. As security teams leverage off-the-shelf AI and machine learning tools, many security experts believe attackers will fight fire with fire, and we may see AI systems compete against one another. Data poisoning attacks against the machine learning technology used in security software could put many organizations at risk.

AI and ML rely on data and algorithms produced over time, and it’s what makes this technology so useful in preventing ransomware attacks. However, if threat actors can gain access to software, they can manipulate the AI and ML in ways that make it difficult to detect and react to.

Thrive partners with IT teams to implement Cloud-based Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solutions, with 24x7x365 monitoring that protects critical systems and data.

Ransomware Everywhere

In the next 24 months, it’s expected that smaller-scale ransomware attacks on IoT and mobile devices will increase. Imagine a phone is taken over, but for a small ransom, it can be unlocked. If attackers can find a backdoor into devices and demand smaller ransoms, these hackers can be successful. It is unfortunate, but with the success of ransomware in the enterprise, it’s likely to trickle down to consumers.

Of course, with many end users working from home, this can lead to interruptions to work, particularly if a smartphone or tablet becomes unavailable. Thrive tailors cybersecurity plans for organizations, and includes protection for employees who may be utilizing BYOD (bring your own device) as an option. Thrive is prepared to tackle the cybersecurity issues of the present and future. For more information about our NextGen Technology services, contact us today!

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