In 2022, cybersecurity will be even more important than it is today. As the cybersecurity workforce ramps up and technology continues to advance, information technology (IT) professionals need to step up their own cybersecurity efforts in order to stay ahead of cybercriminals who are always getting smarter and more sophisticated. Here are 5 reasons that cybersecurity should be your top priority in 2022:
1. The Cybersecurity Jobs Gap Will Only Get Worse
We’ve all heard about how cybersecurity jobs are among the most difficult and highly sought-after for years now, but there’s a reason cybersecurity professionals remain in such high demand: Traditional cybersecurity teams can’t keep pace with increasing cybercriminal activity. This means that as companies attempt to fill those cybersecurity vacancies, criminals will have an increasingly easy time finding unprotected entry points into networks and systems.
2. Your Cybersecurity Will Never Be Good Enough
The cybersecurity community often uses the analogy of a game of chess to explain cybersecurity efforts, because like the game, cybersecurity is constantly changing. It’s up to cybersecurity experts to protect their network and systems before cybercriminals have time to hack them. This requires being proactive instead of reactive, which is very difficult for companies to do unless they have an extremely robust cybersecurity workforce or state-of-the-art technology.
3. Threat Actors Are Getting More Sophisticated Every Day
As cybersecurity professionals work hard to find new ways to protect networks and information from cyberattacks, threat actors are always finding new ways to circumvent existing security measures. This makes it extremely important that businesses take steps not only to protect their systems, but also to validate cybersecurity controls are deployed correctly. Otherwise, companies will have no idea if their cybersecurity efforts are working.
4. Cybersecurity Will Move Into the Office of the CEO
Cybersecurity has typically been regarded as largely the responsibility of IT professionals and network managers, rather than an issue that affects every individual across a company. However, experts predict cybersecurity is likely to move higher up on corporate agendas in 2022 because cybersecurity defenses can’t be left solely to information technology experts without creating challenges for other business units within the organization. This means cybersecurity strategies must become part of each department’s goals if they expect cybercriminals to be kept out of their networks long-term.
5. Threat Actors Are Becoming More Ruthless
Unfortunately, cybersecurity professionals can expect cybercriminals to continue making cybersecurity a top priority as they become increasingly ruthless about the methods they use to gain access to businesses’ sensitive information. In fact, cybersecurity experts predict threat actors will incorporate ransomware (one of the most popular malware types today) into more targeted email campaigns in 2022 because it’s currently one of the most effective ways to infiltrate networks and systems.
It’s estimated that cybercrime costs $2 trillion and cybersecurity should be your top priority moving forward because cybersecurity can help you reduce cybersecurity risks that might happen to your business.