Today, many organizations have had to switch to a hybrid and remote working system along with the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The remote working system, which has become increasingly widespread in recent years, can put organizations at risk at some points. Cyber attacks and malicious activities that try to exploit a lack of physical protection can compromise organizations’ confidential data and company resources.

These risks of working remotely can make effective cyber security approaches and measures mandatory. Zero Trust, one of these approaches, strives to provide access to company systems in the most secure way. Thanks to the increase in the use of remote devices in the remote working system with cloud-based technologies, Zero Trust approach has become increasingly important.  

According to research in 2022, Zero trust security had a significant influence on the development of cloud security strategy, according to 34 of worldwide. Thanks to the Zero Trust approach, you not only keep secure your remote devices but also protect company resources, confidential information, and data. With this approach, which is much more useful than a service, it is much easier to protect your entire company system.

What Is Zero Trust?

Zero Trust can be defined as a framework that provides network and security solutions to organizations based on a set of principles. One of the basic principles in this security approach is that a user who accesses the network once authenticates the other accesses. That is, to avoid assuming that anyone who enters the network once will always be trustworthy.

Zero Trust, whose basic principle is “Never trust, always verify”, sets the limits of internal perimeter security. As companies’ systems are now accessible from anywhere in the world and endpoints are relocated from a distributed workforce, authentication is constantly performed across the network. It always double-checks, and never lets any risky activities.

What Are The Benefits of Zero Trust?

Zero Trust, one of the most important security approaches that business leaders should adapt to their business, has many practical benefits. In addition to providing general security for businesses, it also minimizes security risks. It reduces the negative impact on the reliability of businesses in the event of a breach. The main benefits of Zero Trust, which has more influence than these, are as follows.

Protected Data

The value of your network is determined by the level of security of the data it stores or carries. One of the most important features of Zero Trust to know is that it provides comprehensive protection for data on the network. The secure circulation and storage of data are of great importance for the Zero Trust approach. Zero Trust achieves this through its unique features such as traffic encryption, VPN, and data loss prevention.

Advanced Network Security 

Applying the Zero Trust security approach is highly effective in enhancing network-wide visibility. Being able to see from which users, devices, locations, and reputations the access requests come allows us to prevent and repair the problems that may arise from them in advance. Security tools and approaches give you the visibility and control needed to identify where potential problems originate, where problems originate, and where malicious threats come from.

The user identification in question will be denied access if a user, device, or activity cannot be identified. Therefore, network segmentation prevents users from moving laterally across a network, which is frequently linked to system breaches, rather than limiting them to the resources required to carry out their assigned tasks.

Reduction in Costs

Zero Trust simplifies your security strategy, saving you money. You can lower your costs with more integrated tools that are compatible and work with the rest of your network infrastructure. 

The damage from the attack on the network and the decline in customer trust make the Zero Trust approach a good way to invest in the future of your business. Thanks to Zero Trust solutions, you provide security to your business by reducing costs and performing transactions easily.

Less Damage from Breaches

Network segmentation and users are only given limited access to the resources they need as part of the Zero Trust architecture. A violation is, therefore, more likely to have a much lower impact on business interruption.

Therefore, lower-level impacts are further less likely to have a cascading impact that harms a company’s finances, reputation, and ability to maintain the trust of its stakeholders and consumers.

Why Is Zero Trust Necessary? 

Zero Trust plays a major role in ensuring the overall cyber security of companies and in taking effective action in case of possible dangerous cyber attacks or data leakages. These attacks or leakages may not only occur outside the company, but also inside the company. 

Zero Trust, a system that can predict such situations, provides protection by not giving everyone the same level of access. In this way, it minimizes the risks of security vulnerabilities and provides comprehensive protection.

Zero Trust solutions such as multi-layer authentication and high-level encryption allow you to handle the access and data security process in the best way. It is also very effective in identifying possible threats and detecting attacks beforehand. This security approach supported by these high-end technologies should be integrated into the company system by every company, regardless of company size.

Conclusion

Today, with the increase of remote working systems worldwide at a very high rate, cyber attackers are also finding new ways to carry out their malicious activities. Therefore, security systems are essential in preventing or detecting malicious activities before they happen. Keeping your remote devices safe, especially your computers, mobile phones, or tablets, prevents outsider access to the company system.

The security approaches you will acquire to protect your data will also ease the workload of IT teams, thanks to the convenience it provides. Effective solutions of security approaches provide advanced security thanks to state-of-the-art technologies. These security approaches, like Zero Trust, provide a high-level response to actual or potential cyber attacks and security vulnerabilities.

You may have heard about the dark web before and wondered what it’s all about. Many people are curious about the dark web and what it entails. However, most are also cautious about it at the same time, being wary of the dangers that might be lurking underneath the surface of this mysterious side of the internet.

But, the dark web is nothing to be afraid of. t’s just as dangerous as the surface web can be at times. Exploring the dark web won’t necessarily put you at risk, but there are some important things you need to understand about it before you dive into it.

This article will tell you everything you need to know about the dark web before you venture into the unknown. As long as you take the right precautions, the dark web is nothing to be worried about, and it’s completely fine to explore it. Keep reading for your crash course on the dark side of the internet.

What is the Dark Web?

The dark web is a part of the internet that is somewhat hidden from the public eye. It’s somewhat hidden because you need a special browser to access the dark web, but anyone can download the browser to gain access to this hidden section of the internet.

The browser in question is the Tor browser (the Onion Project), and it has an interesting backstory to it. This special program was developed in the late 1990s by the United States Naval Research Laboratory. The browser would allow their spies to communicate with one another securely and privately without their messages being intercepted by unauthorized individuals.

After some years the program was repurposed to become the anonymous browser that it is today. Nowadays the tor browser can be used to access a collection of “hidden” websites known as the dark web while browsing anonymously. The browser can be downloaded and used by anyone without any fees attached — much like Google Chrome or Firefox.

The Tor browser accesses the dark web through a random path of encrypted servers referred to as “nodes”. Much like a VPN, this allows Tor users to browse the dark web without their actions being traced. Added privacy and security come from the websites on the dark web too. Websites use anonymous software known as I2P (Invisible Internet Project) which allows their owners and hosting servers to remain hidden and untraceable.

There are three main benefits to using the dark web as opposed to the ‘surface’ web;

• Anonymity
• Untraceable websites and services
• Opportunity illegal actions for both users and providers

Is the Dark Web Truly Dangerous?

There’s a misconception that the dark web is a dangerous place — like a black market on the internet. The dark web has been painted as a hive of cybercriminals who take advantage of being secure and anonymous online. While this is partially true, there are some perfectly safe areas of the dark web. In fact, many people use the dark web without malicious intent!

The dark web simply attracts people who need to remain anonymous on the internet. While this does include various types of criminals, many other people will also use the dark web to their advantage.

It’s not illegal to use the Tor browser or browse the dark web. Anyone who needs to work with sensitive information online can use the dark web to ensure that their information is safe and secure. This can include government agencies, legal parties, censored journalists, and even persecution victims.

That being said, the dark web can be a dangerous place — it all depends on the content that the user is engaging with. The websites that the user accesses and their actions on the dark web can lead to the coming across the more dangerous elements. In this way, the “dangers” of the dark web are very similar to that of the surface web.

While you’re browsing the dark web, there is always the risk of running into something dangerous. Below are some of the main threats that you could encounter while surfing the dark web on your Tor browser:

• Malicious software – just like the surface web, you can run into various types of malware while you’re browsing the dark web. From viruses to spyware and ransomware, you need to be prepared to deal with the malware that your device could pick up.
• Government monitoring – while the Tor browser is anonymous and your activity can’t be tracked there is one important factor to keep in mind. Authorities and government agencies have taken over some websites. They use these websites to monitor which devices access the website. You could paint a target on your back simply by visiting one of these dark websites. This is mostly relevant to websites that contain illegal elements.
• Scams – scams are a dangerous part of the dark web that you need to be aware of, much like you would find on the surface web. However, the danger that you face on the dark web is that it’s impossible to track down a scammer, making these scams even more devastating.

How to Stay Safe on the Dark Web

So, now we know that the dark web can be dangerous, but just like the surface web, it’s not always dangerous. There isn’t much-added risk to browsing the dark web compared to the surface web — it all depends on the content and the websites that you engage with. However, it’s never a bad idea to consider some safety precautions. IF you’re going to be browsing the dark web, make sure to invest in premium cybersecurity tools that will ensure your privacy and safety are maximized.

The main tool you need to invest in is premium antivirus software. Antivirus software will constantly scan your device for any viruses or malware. If any malicious software has been detected, the antivirus software can take action to remove it from your device before it causes any further damage.

You may also consider investing in a premium VPN to ensure that your location and internet traffic cannot be traced. While browsing the dark web, it’s always a good idea to have an extra layer of safety, even if the Tor browser offers anonymous browsing as it is.

Let’s take a closer look at the biggest cloud storage security risks so that your organization doesn’t run the risk of facing them. Ultimately, it’s your job to make the right decisions that help your organization provide resilient services. 

Cloud storage has become one of the rapidly growing segments in terms of IT spending. But, cloud security breaches constantly make news headlines for mismanagement by an unnamed third party or a misconfigured database.

The Gartner report states, “Through 2025, 90% of the organizations will fail to control public cloud use and share sensitive information.” Furthermore, cloud storage security risks will cost dearly, overspend by up to 50%.

In this blog post, we’ve curated a list of some of the common yet major cloud storage security risks that come with using cloud solutions. It also helps you deal with them if they ever happen to you. So, let’s dive right in. 

Top Cloud Storage Security Risks That You Need to Know About

1. Unauthorized Access to Data

Unauthorized third-party access to files is a well-known threat that many organizations fail to address. It is crucial to ensure that the data is accessed only by authorized individuals and for legitimate reasons only. Unauthorized access includes accessing enterprise data, networks, devices, or apps, without having proper permissions. The good thing is that poor access control can be tackled through security solutions in combination with access management policies. 

Check out some of the essential tips to prevent poor access management:

• Use third-party security tools to get lists of users, groups, and roles from cloud service environments. After that, the security team will be able to sort and analyze it; learn more about available tools.
• Keep logging and monitoring mechanisms in place to detect unauthorized changes and unusual activity. 
• Last but not least, develop a data governance framework for all user accounts. The user accounts should be connected to the central directory services such as Active Directory, which can monitor and revoke access privileges. 

2. Data Privacy

Besides asset tracking, the data is essential for your organization; no one should be able to access it unless you allow them to. With cloud storage getting popular, storage security is also becoming a widely discussed topic. Some of the common cloud data privacy breaches stem from:

• File-based malware
• Insecure APIs
• Misconfiguration
• Weak IAM(Identity and Access Management) policies

What’s more? Cloud data breaches also include some biggest threats such as  destruction or corruption of databases, leaking of confidential information, the theft of intellectual property and regulatory requirements. According to Forbes, data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first six months of 2019. Businesses of all sizes must get their security stronger. 

Being a business owner, how can you be sure that nobody can access sensitive data or information when you do not maintain the servers? So, whenever you migrate sensitive data to the cloud, there are chances that you might be losing essential privacy controls. To address this, it’s best to seek assistance from cloud migration service providers and familiarize yourself with the best practices for using cloud storage solutions. Which are as follows:

• Investing in employees’ education and training
• Acknowledging the responsibilities you share with the providers you choose.
• Developing strategies, policies, and internal effective best practices.
• Adding native data protection with extra security measures. 
• Figuring out which data should be stored in the cloud.

File sharing enables you to maintain control over the most important company data while guaranteeing compliance and the highest level of security. Share private information without endangering it.

3. Lack of Backup Services

When it comes to storage systems, one of the major complaints received is that there’s no automatic backup functionality. Rather, you need to make plans to backup the data you store on the cloud yourself. Some providers avail the automatic backup functionality and help keep your data safer. But, there are also those who don’t. Make sure you choose a provider which allows automatic data backup.

 In case of an unexpected event, enterprise data backup tools will provide your organization with data protection and quick recovery by storing your data on a remote server.  

4. Rogue Devices

Another cloud storage security risk is providing the ability to employees to work on a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) basis. This trend has been in popularity since more employees prefer to use their own device at work. Owning the fact that they are more used to their interfaces or have higher specs than company-provided devices. 

Undeniably, the BYOD culture has a win-win solution for both employees and employers since it helps in saving expenses for buying IT equipment for employees and it also gives more flexibility to employees. But, you can’t imagine how BYOD culture brings major security risks if it is not managed properly. Lost or misused devices mean that your organization’s sensitive data & information are in the hands of a third party who could breach the company’s network and steal valuable information. Therefore, the best way to protect data and security against this threat is to ensure that the data is encrypted and transmitted over a secure connection and to prevent outsiders from accessing the cloud’s metadata.

5. Poor Incident Response

When it comes to giving responses to internal cybersecurity incidents, organizations must have their strategies in place. Organizations also must own all their internal network infrastructure, and security personnel are on-site; therefore, it is possible to lock down the incident. The main goal is to effectively manage the incident so that the damage is limited, plus some factors like recovery time, costs, and collateral damage (brand reputation) are kept at a minimum. 

Above all, if the company wants to prevent data breaches, a practice should be followed to have a comprehensive incident plan that embraces cloud security. 

Conclusion

The cloud environment has been rapidly changing since its emergence. It also makes it difficult to detect and respond to threats quickly. Cloud assessment helps in identifying and mitigating security risks in cloud computing. It helps identify several major security threats such as data breaches, lack of cloud security architecture and strategy, misconfiguration & inadequate change control, account hijacking, and insecure interface & APIs.

Moreover, implementing a cloud strategy can give your team a clear and shared idea of your business objectives and best practices when working with information online. On the other hand, the above-mentioned cloud storage risks can emerge as issues like misalignment, scalability challenges, productivity slowdowns, and security gaps. These security risks could put your whole organization at risk. 

You need to develop an effective strategy that includes standard guidelines and practices for your business. It should be a document that changes with your business needs and your cloud services.