Technology companies are gearing up to tackle cybersecurity threats that have increased with the adoption of a hybrid work model. Experts believe the hybrid mode of working has led to increased adoption of digital operations which has massively heightened the need to protect the data generated.
A Forrester study recently found that 80% of Indian organizations plan to adopt a hybrid work model over the next 12-24 months. However, 71% of security leaders said they lacked high or complete visibility into remote employees’ home networks, raising huge security concerns.
Hybrid work has brought multiple clouds, devices, networks, and endpoints into the mix, which has widened the digital attack surface, said Huzefa Motiwala, director of Systems Engineering for India and SAARC, Palo Alto Networks. “Swapping between these, while they remain a part of the corporate network, can leave enterprises vulnerable to attacks. Too many of these can make developing a cybersecurity strategy a complex affair, while weak remote access policies and implicit trust on many devices make it easy for bad actors to gain entry and orchestrate a breach.”
Networking major Cisco said its Zero Trust platform provides a solution to secure all access of an organization’s applications and infrastructure. Zero Trust is a security model based on maintaining strict access controls and not trusting anyone by default.
“Unlike traditional security, the protection offered by Zero Trust is not based solely on location. That way, you can make sure that only the right people and devices have permissions to access specific data at specified times. We also have a Secure Hybrid Work solution that unifies protection at scale and makes it easy for users to verify devices, enable secure access, and always defend hybrid workers from any location,” said Minhaj Zia, director, Collaboration Sales, Cisco India and SAARC.
IBM has also adopted a Zero Trust strategy that offers effective access control balancing trust and risk. “We leverage IBM Security Software solutions that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze key parameters like user, device, activity, environment and behaviour — in context to determine holistic risk scores. This analysis drives more accurate, contextual authentication decisions to better protect both business and users‘ experience,” said Prashant Bhatkal, Security Software Sales Leader, IBM Technology Sales, India and South Asia.
According to Dell Technologies Global Data Protection Index report, several businesses are lacking the ability to manage mission-critical data as they are currently handling 10 times more data than they were 5 years ago.
“With the rise of this data, the need to manage business processes across multiple networks has significantly risen. Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to ensure seamless management of data with customized cybersecurity infrastructure solutions. With the increase in entry points for malicious actors coupled with the rise of sophisticated ransomwares, malwares and leaks in sensitive information, the loss of mission-critical data can cripple an organization, retarding their growth in the digital era,” said Ripu Bajwa, director and general manager, Data Protection Solutions, Dell Technologies India.
At Dell Technologies India, employees are regularly updated of the global data protection standards. “Our initiatives such as choosing a VPN (virtual private network), conducting a password audit, and embracing the correct infrastructure solutions at the workplace have been keeping employees at Dell Technologies, secure and optimistic,” added Bajwa.
