The 2022 Boston Cyber Security Summit: “Your Friends Could be Your Enemies”

Last month, C-suite leaders and senior executives gathered at the sixth annual Cyber Security Summit in Boston from some of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies including our client, Gigamon, along with speakers from Dell Technologies, Verizon, and Darktrace. This hybrid event presented the opportunity for attendees to learn and engage with one another on the strategies and solutions to protecting an organization’s most critical infrastructure. 

This event couldn’t have come at a more urgent time – over 52 million cyber attacks occurred worldwide in the second half of 2022 alone and cyber threats are expected to cost organizations $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

The conference opened with a keynote presentation by FBI Special Agent William McDermott, Private Sector and Academic Coordinator for the Boston Division, and followed with interactive discussions from renowned security experts on some of the most pressing trends in the industry, including:

The Persistence of Hybrid & Remote Work

In the aftermath of the pandemic, it’s no surprise that a large number of today’s workforce would like to work remotely in some capacity. In fact, in 2022, more than half of employees prefer to work remotely at least three days a week. As such, organizations continue to adapt and look toward new strategies to meet their employees' expectations in a post-pandemic world. Simultaneously, this means dealing with the challenges and security implications that a hybrid work environment presents with the highly complex IT infrastructure it requires to function effectively.

The Rise in Cloud Configuration

The cloud is an essential component to the success of today’s digital business operations. However, with 80% of organizations using multiple public and private clouds to enable business productivity, the security implications must be addressed. Ransomware is on the rise and unfortunately, most organizations lack the visibility required to detect and protect against security threats lurking deep within their hybrid cloud networks. This creates a perfect storm where anyone or any business, at any time, is at risk. 

Additionally, in today’s economic environment, organizations must ask themselves how to scale properly and navigate the cloud without adding cost or additional risk. For most, the answer lies within a Zero Trust framework. 

The Journey to Zero Trust

To address today’s security threats that coincide with the hybrid work landscape and the rise in multi-cloud adoption, the event’s speakers and attendees agree that Zero Trust isn’t just a buzzword. It’s an essential component to future-proofing an organization's most valuable asset, its data. That said, the security of an organization doesn’t solely rely on an organization’s security team itself. It requires a collaborative effort across the organization and a shared responsibility model where staff are continuously trained and educated. This is especially true since the industry saw a 61% rise in phishing attacks from 2021 to 2022.

While we, as humans, want to implicitly trust our friends and coworkers, it's critically important to remember that people make mistakes, which creates the opportunity for our friends to become our enemies. This is where Zero Trust comes into play. Only when organizations consistently identify and verify who has access to what within the organization’s network, and only grant access to those who strictly need it, can organizations reduce risk. 

Just like any business, threat actors work to ensure a return on their investment. The harder you make it for them to see that return, the more likely they will be to move on to their next victim. 

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