Page 25 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2020 Edition

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Indeed, almost all organizations are more vulnerable now than they were before mid-March. While, the
full impact is hard to predict now, we should expect a large number of reports of breaches from the start
of the work-from-home trend and potentially lasting through 2021. To avoid being among the victims,
organizations need a solid plan for addressing data privacy and security risks both now and when the
remote working situation shifts again.

Organizations will move beyond passwords.

Password authentication is perhaps the weakest link in cybersecurity. The increased use of online
services is forcing users to create new accounts, each with its own password. Faced with the challenge
of remembering more and more complex passwords, users resort to reusing one or two passwords. This
increases the risk of data breaches, since credentials stolen from one organization become available on
the dark web and hackers attempt to use them against other companies.

As a result, organizations will likely start adopting non-password authentication methods, such as
biometric data like fingerprints or eye scans. This trend could increase the amount of personal data
transmitted and stored online, as more organizations will be collecting biometric data for authentication.
And of course, attackers will be looking for techniques to circumvent or hack any new authentication
strategies, and it’s impossible to predict what they will come up with. Therefore, organizations need to
have an adaptive risk management program and have security in mind every time they implement new
services and technologies.

About the Author

Ilia Sotnikov is an accomplished expert in cybersecurity and IT
management. He is Vice President of Product Management at Netwrix,
provider of a visibility platform for data security and risk mitigation in hybrid
environments. Netwrix is based in Irvine, Calif.

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