Application security needs more attention as there is an increasing usage of applicationson smart devices. While security has seen improvements over the years, applications still have vulnerabilities that can expose them to spyware, keyloggers, viruses, worms, and other harmful scripts.

Conducting business online opens several opportunities but also poses risks. Earlier this year, hundreds of companies had data breaches, exposing sensitive information of clients and employees.

Protecting your small or medium sized business from cyber threats is no simple task. This is because cybersecurity is a process, not a result. An effective cybersecurity strategy involves many moving parts and a multitude of factors both internal and external to the organization. The need for a cybersecurity strategy is urgent as new scams and hacks are being developed daily. Many firms hit with cyber-attacks are oblivious to the danger. According to a new Nationwide Insurance survey, nearly half of companies that were impacted by a cyber-attack did not know that one had even occurred1. This highlights a major concern for business. Cyber threats are some of the biggest threats facing modern businesses today.

Data is an invaluable asset for businesses.It allows them to drive business success and evolve in an ever-changing corporate landscape. However, many organizations lack adequate protection and prevention strategies that preclude data breaches and data loss, which serves as a recipe for business failure. In the Dell EMC Global Data Protection Index – Global Results 2016 Report, it was reported that organizations that have experienced data loss in the prior twelve months incurred an average estimated cost of $914,000 in damages. A total of 29% of the 2200, respondents from the 18 businesses surveyed suffered data loss during that twelve-month period. The causes of such loss not only included cyber-intrusions, but also data corruption, hardware failures, power losses, and software errors, among many others.

In 2016, it was discovered that mobile device breaches cost enterprises millions of dollars.Lookout, a global leader in mobile security, and Ponemon Institute conducted a study on the economic risk of mobile data breaches, as well as potential maximum losses. They found during their research that losses could be as high as $26.4 million. There were 588 IT and security leaders from the Forbes Global 2000 companies who participated in this study. Researchers examined the risks introduced by employee access to increasing amounts of corporate data via their mobile devices and then assigned a cost to any mobile-based breach.

Keeping up with cybersecurity is a worldwide challenge. In Beyond Trust’s 2017 Federal Cybersecurity Threat Survey Report, 42% of 105 senior IT professionals had experienced a data breach in the last six months and one in eight had experienced a data breach in the last month. The average costs of these data breaches are more than $91,000, while the highest profile breaches can run into the millions of dollars in damages.

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in security software, stated that cyber espionage is the most serious threat concern to global businesses in 2017.Twenty percent of global organizations rank cyber espionage as the most serious threat to their business, with 26% struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape. In addition, one in five U.S. organizations have suffered a cyber espionage-related attack in the last year. Trend Micro’s research covered over 2,400 organizations across the U.S. and Europe.

Centralized higher education labs were once a standard and necessary offering. Now, an increasing number of higher education students have personal computers to support their studies, and they expect the higher education institutions they attend to provide appropriate security and privacy for the personal information they share with the institution. With the plethora of connected devices, Colleges and Universities must consider the numerous points of potential vulnerability. Colleges and Universities are one of the most frequently attacked organizations due to the nature of their networks. Most higher education institutions have a non-centralized security platform making it difficult to detect possible breaches or intrusions to the network. Even if a possible breach could efficiently be detected, the non-centralized security platform makes it difficult for the institution to determine exactly where the breach originated or how it occurred.

When internet usage first matriculated into the mainstream, few people predicted that soon, everyday items would be connected to the web. Today, we are closer to this reality than ever before with the internet of things (IoT) emerging into the marketplace controlling household thermostats, security systems, and much more. The IoT is the ever-growing network of physical objects that feature an IP address for internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs between these objects and other internet-enabled devices/systems4. Cloud based computing has helped to accelerate the proliferation of the IoT. This technology consists of physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other items that are embedded with software, sensors, and computing systems. Such matrixed connectivity gives devices the ability to communicate data to various end points1. The Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things (IoT-GSI) branded the IoT as “the infrastructure of the information society.” They arrived at this definition based on the technology’s potential to allow everyday items to communicate vital data to networks and other devices in real-time. This innovation is poised to revolutionize many industries and to bring automation closer to a reality. One of the most notable applications for the IoT is to assist driverless cars in communicating with each other as well as with their environments2. With such substantial technological potential, theIoTlso poses significant security concerns.