The Perfect Storm
There's a perfect storm of changes that have driven a paradigm shift in how work gets done in 2020. These changes are only accelerating as we move into the 2020s decade. Unfortunately, this new paradigm requires new, more proactive approaches to security. Approaches that impact every single employee.
- Software, not hardware. The world has shifted from hardware to software. Even physical infrastructure, in the form of the cloud, is now delivered via software.
- Data. Similar to the shift to software, data is now the driving force behind much of the economy. Moving hardware is not important, moving software and data is.
- The cloud. The cloud has become more than a computer in somebody else's data center. The shift to the cloud has driven an entirely new form of physical infrastructure that is deployed and managed purely with software.
- Remote work. COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated this shift. The move to remote-mandatory or remote-optional is here to stay. And working remote changes how you securely connect to company resources and colleagues.
- Sophisticated attacks. It has never been easier to attack corporate systems and data. And, both governments and large crime syndicates are throwing resources at well-trained teams to try to gain unauthorized access to your company systems.
All of these changes have shifted how work gets done. And you are now at least partially responsible for being at the front line of your company's data security program. All Employees, now have more autonomy over technology. Whether it is cloud environments that host products or SaaS tools for marketing and sales, employees now have more control and responsible, indirectly or directly, for risk management.
Security is everybody’s job.
Security Best Practices by Category
We breakdown security tasks in three buckets, covered over the next three lessons:
- Securing your accounts - protecting your software / SaaS accounts and your online identity.
- Securing your computer - protecting the device you use to do work.
- Securing your phone - protecting your mobile device, which is increasingly used for a mix of private and professional functions.
We will walk through security best practices in the next several lessons but, for now, it is important to understand that the way you work has changed and security is a part of your everyday job.
