Data security is an issue that faces every organization that uses or stores sensitive data. Even a minor data breach can expose a business to crippling financial penalties from regulators, civil action by aggrieved data owners, and irreversible corporate reputation damage. 

As 2023 approaches, changes in the workplace, geopolitical factors, changing requirements by insurance providers, and privacy laws are just some of the reasons that data security is a fluid reality that regularly takes on new shapes. Businesses that cannot protect their sensitive data – whether it is client data or their own confidential data – are exceptionally vulnerable. Unlike large organizations, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) don’t have the resources to survive the wrath of regulators or endure data loss scandals, drops in share prices, or the ability to absorb the loss of individual income streams. To illustrate the point, an estimated 60% of SMBs that experience data breaches close within one year. 

I put together a list of the top four data security topics that you must be aware of and take action on in 2023. 

1. Data Security Is a C-Level Executive Concern

Most CEOs and C-level executives are not cybersecurity experts, and many senior executives have only a hazy understanding of cyber threats and the wider consequences of data breaches.  A disturbing number of IT managers still rely on obsolete DLP projects for data management. They are often dependent on the services of consultants and other third-party IT service providers to maintain and update their DLP solutions. 

New data privacy laws, laws regulating ransomware payments, a growing requirement for contractual cybersecurity assessment and disclosures, and the expansion of regulated industries are changing the data security landscape, mandating a new approach to cybersecurity and data security at the boardroom level. 

There are two options boards have (aside from doing nothing): one is the difficult option and the other is the simple one. The difficult option would be to appoint cybersecurity committees to take up valuable company time with meetings and report-writing in hopes of making sense of their security risks and searching for ways to achieve remediation. The simple solution is choosing a data security solution that allows them to quantify their data risk in one simple dashboard at any moment in time and take corrective action by one-click encryption. Such a solution should constantly monitor all sensitive data across endpoints, file servers, NAS, shadow IT, and managed cloud, including data flow coming and going and the data coming in and going out of the organization. This simple solution will save thousands of dollars and man-hours and remove humor error from the equation. 

2. Cybersecurity Insurance Policies

As data security threats and breaches increase, so does the liability of managed service providers (MSPs) and SMBs. Data breaches can not only damage a company’s reputation, but the sheer cost, whether it be from ransomware payments, lost productivity, or lawsuits, can cripple an organization. Understanding how to insure yourself against these losses is key to surviving a potential breach. 

For MSPs, having cybersecurity insurance is as important as any other service they offer. While offering data and cybersecurity can be lucrative, you do not want the fallout from a breach landing in your lap. Here are a few tips for cyber insurance:

• Every MSP should have it.
• Each one of your clients should have cyber insurance. If they aren’t protected, you are extremely vulnerable to recourse by their customers and partners.
• Know your and your customers’ data risk. You should know how much data there is, where it is, and what its value is, because this affects your coverage and your premiums. The same goes for your customers. Ensure that you and your clients are properly covered, and make sure your premium is on par with the data you are insuring. A robust data risk assessment and data monitoring software is your secret weapon in order to do this. 
• Find an insurance provider you can work with. Not all cybersecurity insurance providers have technical staff to understand your unique business or data challenges. Find an insurance provider that understands your business and clients. 
• Recognize the upsell opportunity. Managing cybersecurity insurance for your clients is a great service to offer. You’re not only ensuring that they are protected in the event of a data breach, but it can also be a new capability in your tool belt. 

3. The Ever-Increasing Movement of Data

There are several forces driving the movement of data use in our modern global economy. These include the availability and use of new platforms and applications and the growing numbers of endpoints thanks to our new hybrid office reality. 

Public expectations for advanced infrastructures, improved health care, convenient e-commerce, and access to education and entertainment services are also creating new forms of data use.

Pandemic and disaster management contingencies are data-driven. External pressures revolutionizing data collection and use include climate change, emerging food shortages, population growth, and international tensions and rivalries.

Our ability to harvest, store, process, and use data has grown exponentially, and shows no signs of slowing down. The 21st-century global economy is data-based and data-driven. Data is a key resource, and ownership and control of data will determine who prospers. 

Data-enabled innovations that increase vulnerability to cyber threats include:

• The transition to electric and driverless vehicles on smart roads
• The integration of the Internet of Things into our homes, workplaces, and infrastructures
• The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• The availability of cloud, 5G (and anticipated 6G) internet
• Increasing reliance on smartphones for a range of daily activities

4. Fight Cyber Threats with Automated Data Security Solutions

The average small or medium business can have a remarkably complex IT ecosystem and a high turnover of unvetted personnel. The reactive approach to data security is not a smart plan now and it certainly will not be for 2023. A proactive approach to data security is the only way to fight cyber security threats. Here’s why: 

• Performing data risk discovery and quantification in U.S. dollars based on predefined privacy regulations and PII definitions is the only way to truly know where your sensitive data lives, establish its value and secure it accordingly

• Data risk monitoring and auditing of your data is the only way to know in real time where your data is going and who is using it

• Seamless encryption and description allow the organization to secure its most valuable data across all endpoints, third-party portals, cloud apps, and shadow IT – without interrupting workflow

With so many ongoing and growing threats and the need for insurance and compliance excellence, do not settle for anything less than a trusted and complete data security solution.