Since cyber threats have increased a lot since the pandemic, staff are feeling overworked and the talent shortage has made the situation worse. There aren't enough people to expand cybersecurity teams and there are few people who are handling it all at companies.
One thing we have all learned is that cybersecurity needs to be at the center of business planning and should be considered at every stage of product development. Risks needs to be assessed along the way and decisions should be made accordingly.
Overall, the relationship between security and developer teams is strained since they are not on the same page. Having team members that are knowledgeable about both security and software development to serve on the developer teams would help.
Information-sharing, partnerships, and cooperation is needed between the public and private sectors to improve the current situation. As attacks grow in sophistication, companies need to have the right tools and team to protect themselves. Without a security team (that isn't burnt out), it will be difficult to have full visibility into the threats.
From having the right tools, training programs, for example would help with cybersecurity burnout. But, setting a strategy will be key and accessing it from a business perspective.
IT expert Marcin Pulcer at the University of Windsor shared tips on protecting your information online and not getting scammed. He said cyber attackers on the internet pursue phishing and attacks as their full time job. Attacks can come in any form from emails, texts, calls, or ads.
Pulcer added that tech-savvy people can get tricked by these too.
IT teams are always seeing new types of attacks, and the gift card scams for example are really popular.
Certain clues to look out for that reveal that it's a scam are: it's unexpected, urgent, and inconsistent.
Receiving a random email that wants you to take action right away is questionable. Most importantly, many of the phishing emails or messages might have inconsistencies such as wrong spellings, odd emails, or stating "$500 prize" in the heading and "$1000 prize" in the email body for example.
If you do click on the link by accident, report it immediately and change your password. Report it to the app or platform you are using, maybe your work or university if your account is associated with them.
The experts emphasized on using unique passwords, different passwords for different sites, as well as multi-factor authentication.
Educating yourself on how to spot these tricks can save you and/or your company financial loss and reputational loss. If a hacker accesses your account and posts something private, that can damage your reputation.
Even though technology is improving and there are ways to spot and block phishing scams, there are still some that can slip through says Pulcer so it's important for humans to be aware and step in when needed.
Every organization has data and information to protect. According to research from Deloitte, the demand for cybersecurity professionals grows by seven per cent every year.
Here are misconceptions about pursuing a career in cybersecurity:
Having a passion for the field is required, not a specialized degree. Many individuals take cybersecurity courses during their degree or even after graduation to develop their technical skills. You don't need a formal education, just some courses—which some are free online too. There are free cybersecurity training courses available through Fortinet’s NSE Training Institute.
Cybersecurity is actually everywhere, it's not very niche. With billions of devices connected globally from phones, TVs, laptops, even smart appliances, people are interacting with cybersecurity on a daily basis. Once you start educating yourself about cybersecurity, you can understand the threats people face in the digital, connected world.
Having technical skills in cybersecurity is important, but learning through curiosity helps a lot. By asking questions about security and data can help individuals think about what's happening in the backend.
There are many barriers women face when entering male-dominated fields. There are still many gender biases that exist in the tech sector along with a lack of female representation. If you are interested in problem solving and are a curious person, cybersecurity could be for you. There are opportunities for people from different backgrounds and education levels to join given there are plenty of ongoing training opportunities.