Security Trends To Futureproof Your Business

The security landscape is ever-changing, so how can you plan your security strategy for the future? With an increasing number of people working from home and a sharp uptick in cloud-based software, business owners must digitally and physically protect sensitive information. 

Read on to learn about how you can do this, plus the digital and physical protection trends to help future-proof your business. 

Combining physical and digital security

In 2021, during the pandemic, 70% of American adults claimed that they could do their job remotely. While a work-from-home model is popular and convenient, businesses must protect the amount of information stored on the cloud.

By combining physical and digital security, businesses can secure information stored on cloud servers and office buildings. You can combine physical and digital security in the following ways.

1. Using access systems

You can protect the digital assets in your physical spaces by installing an access system that integrates with your building security technology. Employees gain access by a touchless reader that can pick up a Bluetooth signal from employees’ mobile devices without reaching into their pocket. 

Managing and restricting access to your building is the best way to protect your digital assets and sensitive information. You can also use internal access systems to ensure that employees cannot enter restricted areas.

2. Using cybersecurity for your physical security system

Your physical security system is cloud-based and therefore needs additional cybersecurity protection. Suppose you back up your physical security system with cybersecurity software. 

In that case, you will strengthen your security strategy by combining digital security and physical security, which will help you overcome the challenges of modern security. 

3. Converging your physical and cyber security teams

More and more businesses are recognizing the benefits of merging their physical and cyber security strategies, and that requires these two independent teams to work in unison moving forwards. This way, essential sources of data insights can be leveraged to optimize the security posture of the business, and all security personnel can collaborate towards the most effective strategies and responses towards the security needs of the business. Additionally, any space that stores sensitive data must be sufficiently physically protected from any security breaches – a surprising number of security breaches occur in-house.

4. Integrating your physical security technologies 

Your physical security system can be operated more efficiently if all data gathered from security installations are accessible on one interface. For instance, if your security camera feed is integrated with your business access control system, your security staff will be better able to correlate the data from both sources. This means that your security staff will be better able to resolve incidents involving misappropriated access credentials by looking at camera feed information alongside access data, which would take longer to correlate should your security data be stored on different interfaces.

Future-proofing your business

When investing in security, you must ensure your system is equipped to deal with future threats as your business evolves. In addition, it is essential that the system you invest in now will be able to cater to essential tech integrations within your business to further streamline your security strategy. The more holistic your security approach is across all facets of your business, the more robust it becomes. Integration between systems and softwares allows for optimal operational management, better use of resources, and more efficient and effective responses to potential threats and risk mitigation and management in general.

Here is a list of the methods you can use to create a security system that will work towards future-proofing your business. 

Zero-trust security strategy 

Zero trust is a security framework that requires all users to be authenticated, whether they are using the business network or not. With this system, you can secure infrastructure adaptable to modern working modes. The system assumes no traditional network edge; workers can be located anywhere and can be using local, cloud-based, or hybrid servers.

Zero trust is an essential framework for securing data and business infrastructure in the face of today’s cyber risks and highly-digitized world. It acts to secure remote workers, ransomware attacks and hybrid cloud environments – all the more vital now that traditional work processes are being superseded by remote and flexible working models.

Technology supporting hybrid and remote working 

With the repeated application of lockdowns and work-from-home protocols worldwide, every business would benefit from hybrid and remote work facilitation. To make hybrid working possible in your business, you can make use of the following technologies:

• Communication tools: Your business needs a form of communication such as video chat or messenger services, allowing communication to occur whether your employees are at home or in the office.
• Cloud-based office programs: You will need to provide means for your employees to access documents for collaborating on projects outside the office.
• Occupancy management: If your workplace uses a hybrid model, you should use occupancy management software to understand how often your spaces are used to identify any need for downsizing.

These technologies can be cloud-based, so you will need to support them with cyber security measures.

Cyber security training 

You can reduce the risk of human error, which makes your company vulnerable, by teaching your employees skills to avoid making mistakes that reveal sensitive information. You can provide education on the following topics.

• Password creation: The most common password continues to be 123456, which speaks to the risks posed by poor password creation. Educate your employees on how to create a strong password.
• Security updates: You must make your employees aware of your policies on updating software. Their software must always be entirely up-to-date to block anyone from finding exploits in software.
• Physical security errors: You must provide your employees with an outline of the critical physical security errors and how to avoid them. Printer output trays and meeting rooms should be secure. Documents also shouldn’t be left unattended on desks.

Hybrid security systems

Hybrid security systems combine physical in-office servers with cloud-based servers for your security. The hybrid security system provides the strengths of both servers. It offers solutions to the disadvantage of each server so that hybrid working is possible and security is accessible from anywhere.

These security trends will allow you to construct a security system for your offices that can withstand the test of time. Using digital and physical security together can help you create an enmeshed and well-protected security system.