Cybersecurity Trends in 2024: Keep Your Businesses Protected with Anavon

We’re halfway through 2024, and with new, rapidly growing technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity remains a critical concern for businesses of all sizes. With technology becoming more sophisticated, it’s no surprise that cyber threats are also becoming increasingly complex. 

Cyber threats pose significant risks to your business’s data, operations, and future. Let’s explore the key cybersecurity threats of 2024 and what you can do to keep your business secure.

Building a Strong Cybersecurity Culture

Even with all of the high-level technology at our disposal, one of the most significant challenges in cybersecurity might surprise you—human error. 88% of cybersecurity issues originate from human error. This highlights just how important it is to create and maintain a solid cybersecurity culture within your company or organization. 

Instilling this cybersecurity culture should begin with employee education, starting from day one of employment while being regularly reiterated. Phishing scams are one area to focus employee education on; as well as social engineering and the safe handling of devices and data.

Anavon’s managed IT services include comprehensive in-house training programs designed to educate your staff on the latest cybersecurity best practices. Our regular training sessions and surprise phishing tests will help ensure that your employees are aware of potential threats and know how to respond effectively, reducing the risk of human error compromising your security.

Common Cybersecurity Threats and Trends in 2024

1. Generative AI and Hyper-Realistic Scams

Generative AI is making cyber threats more sophisticated, with hyper-realistic scams that use recognizable voices and faces. This makes it easier for hackers to deceive employees and everyday people into giving away sensitive information. 

You might have heard these types of scams being referred to as “Grandparent Scams” in the news, where the hacker takes on the likeness of an elderly person’s grandchild to scam them out of money, often disguised as “bail money.” 

Unfortunately, these scams prove fairly successful for hackers and have now entered the business world as well. While AI technology can also be used to screen these calls and keep them from getting through, the best way to protect your business from these threats is through employee education. 

As mentioned above, a culture of cybersecurity means healthy skepticism and caution while discussing sensitive company information; whether over the phone or through email.

2. Zero Trust Security

Zero trust security is becoming a standard practice in cybersecurity. This approach assumes that every device and user is potentially dangerous until verified. Devices are given just enough capacity to perform their job without the ability to go outside of that scope. 

Anavon can help your business implement zero-trust security protocols to ensure that all devices and users are continuously verified, which significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

3. Risk Mitigation

Risk mitigation remains a top priority in cybersecurity to identify, analyze, and assess risks to understand their potential impact on your business. Without a specialization in IT Security, you might feel overwhelmed by assessing cyber risks to your business. Anavon can provide a comprehensive risk assessment guide that is customized to your business needs. 

By regularly conducting risk assessments, we’ll help you stay ahead of potential threats and take proactive measures to protect your data.

4. Phishing

Phishing, while not a new threat, remains a prevalent one, with 3.4 billion phishing emails sent daily and accounting for 36% of all cybersecurity breaches (Verizon 2022 Data Breach Report). 

The median loss from a phishing attack is $30,000, so while it may seem like a simple attack, it sure can be a costly one. Don’t worry—Anavon’s no-contract IT services include anti-phishing measures, including ongoing team training and network-wide guardrails.

The Complex Layers of Cybersecurity

A multi-layered approach to cybersecurity is essential to protect your business against various threats. Anavon can help assess, prioritize, and install these different layers of security to ensure your business is fully protected.

Physical Security

Knowing which employees have physical access to different data points and spaces in your business is vital for minimizing information getting into the wrong hands. 

This can include:

• Access/entry control
• Security cameras
• Secure storage for sensitive materials

Network Security

Continuous monitoring of your network day in and day out is a crucial step for catching issues before they become a true threat.

We can help with:

• Real-time monitoring
• Notification of performance issues
• Patch management to keep systems up to date

Perimeter Security

This isn’t the physical perimeter of your building, but your “technical perimeter”, of sorts! We can help install firewalls and intrusion detection systems to prevent unauthorized access to your sensitive business information.

Endpoint Security

Even though your business seems like one entity, it’s still in the hands of multiple people. We’ll help manage every endpoint through managed antivirus and anti-malware to protect individual devices like computers, cell phones, and tablets.

Data Protection

We offer managed backup services with 24/7/365 monitoring, ensuring that your critical data is always secure and recoverable. On top of that, we’ll be on-site within four hours of any emergency, anytime.

Anavon Technology Group is Your Business’s First Line of Defense 

Cybersecurity in 2024 requires a proactive and comprehensive approach. Anavon’s managed IT services offer the protection your business needs against the evolving landscape of cyber threats. 

With affordable, on-demand help and no contracts, Anavon ensures that businesses of all sizes remain secure and resilient in the face of emerging cybersecurity challenges. By partnering with Anavon, you can focus on growing your business while we take care of your IT needs.

For more information about Anavon’s managed IT services, visit Anavon Technology Group or call 877-872-0812.