We asked Northdoor’s product specialists and leaders: “What are the key IT trends that you need to look out for in 2021?” James Cherry, CTO at Northdoor plc responded with his top predictions for enterprise IT and data security in 2021.
In 2021, DataOps will become mainstream, allowing consumers to access accurate data faster.
Businesses have always been able to collect data, but many have struggled to generate business value or deliver meaningful data insights that help with business growth.
The past five years has seen the volume and value of data increase significantly, and 2021 will see no end to this. Companies will need to find ways of gathering accurate data and rapidly with near real-time authentication to ensure that it is able to deliver meaningful value.
What is DataOps, and how can it help my organisation?
DataOps is defined as the orchestration of people, process and technology to deliver trusted, high-quality data to citizens at speed. By using automation, DataOps allows companies to overcome the challenges associated with the inefficiencies in assessing, preparing, integrating, and making data available and of value.
DataOps will become mission critical in 2021
We believe that DataOps will become mainstream in 2021 and may be mission critical for many enterprise scale organisations. The products and tools associated with DataOps management have matured over the past 12 months, and companies are starting to implement them across multiple sectors.
Just as DevOps enabled high quality applications with reduced time to release, DataOps has the ability to get accurate data into the hands of people that need it, and can use it, rapidly.
Northdoor are well positioned to advise clients on the benefits of DataOps solutions in 2021, and how best to secure data in transit. Contact the Northdoor Data and Analytics team for the very latest information.
Forecasting increasing levels of cyber-attacks and hacking in 2021
Due to the economic situation caused by Covid-19, spending on data security solutions may be reduced. The pandemic has seen a real rise in cyber-attacks, and 2021 is likely to see no reduction. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6t (trillion) annually by 2021 – and consequently organisations need to increase their cyber defences to manage these threats. The lasting impact of the pandemic and Brexit – plus the likely economic impact of both will undoubtedly continue to affect organisations during 2021.
The traditional approach of companies building cyber-defensive walls higher and higher in order to protect infrastructure and data is no longer viable. Cyber-criminals are increasingly sophisticated in their approach and are moving faster than organisations can build their walls.
Remaining proactive and open to new solutions in cyber security is critical. Northdoor and our partners already have a range of data security solutions that can help identify and mitigate against new cyber treats before they make an impact. These include our dedicated incident response platform as well as both ransomware and anti-phishing solutions.
It is well worth talking to the security team here for the latest security insights and to get ahead of the new types of cyber threat that could impact your organisation.
Managing insider and outside cyber threats
Managing the threat from both inside and outside your organisation will be increasingly important in 2021. We already highlighted these threats – and how they can be mitigated in our recent articles; Data security for your remote workforce in 2021 and Insider threat assessment and mitigation, and these insights are well worth reading over the Christmas break.
There have been multiple high-profile breaches that have originated from third parties and supply chains in 2020. Gaining insight into vulnerabilities within your supply chain and third parties gives companies the opportunity to close these security gaps and help to prevent breaches.
With companies dealing with hundreds or potentially thousands of suppliers turning to an automated, centralised approach that empowers companies to conduct business securely in an open, collaborative, digital world.
Impact of FireEye hack
Recent hacks have also increased the threat to business data in 2021. In the recent FireEye hack in December, the security company was breached by what it called “a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities”. As a result of the hack, FireEye’s own tool kit was stolen and now has the potential to be used in mounting new attacks around the world. This substantially increases the threat level for many organisations worldwide.
2020 also saw cyber-criminals increase their efforts and build more sophistication into their attacks, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the pandemic. 2021 will see this trend continue but companies will also have increasingly sophisticated cyber security toolsets available to fight off such attacks and even prevent attacks in the first place.
As always, the Northdoor team are here to help you keep at least one step ahead of cyber criminals – by giving you the very latest tools to secure your data, alongside monitoring and preventing cyber-attacks at every scale. Get in touch if you would like to start 2021 off with the best cyber resilience tools and solutions.