Transcript 0:01 [on-hold music] Who is responsible? I do agree security programs and protocols start at the top, but it is ultimately up to employees who need to follow through here. I think we all have to think about this. 0:17 We are all responsible for good cyber hygiene practices. This is especially critical as we are living in an era where we are moving our data from more often to the cloud and to the edge. 0:34 [on-hold music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation, with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:53 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. Today on the show, I'm going to be talking all about cybersecurity. 1:06 If you know me, then you know about my stance on security already. 1:11 But now there are some new studies with statistics that are downright scary, and I want to share those with you today, and we need to carefully consider what we are teaching our workforce. 1:25 But I want to really address what I'm going to ask and answer a very important question: Who is responsible? Is it the employer or the employee? 1:36 Because it seems, if I am reading between the lines of some of these research reports, there is a bit of a tug-of-war going on here, so we're gonna talk about that. 1:47 But first, later on in the show, I'll be interviewing Sam Barker, lead analyst at Juniper Research. 1:53 And then I'm gonna wrap up the show with a couple of really great women, Erica Baird and Karen Waggoner, founders of Luster.net. So stick around. We've got some interesting discussions today. So let's get started. 2:05 As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we already know there is an increased security risk due to all of this remote work. 2:14 Employees are roughly sixty-six percent of companies, uh, kinda took work devices home during this pandemic. 2:24 Now we're seeing that roughly seventy-one percent of businesses do not have a plan to deal with the potential cyberattacks, and in the last year, small to medium-size enterprises actually decreased their IT security by an average of four-point-nine million dollars. 2:45 Now think about that right now. Four-point-nine million dollars. 2:48 Now, Specops Software survey shows that thirty-one percent of small business owners, small, medium-sized business owners, SMEs, believe that bigger businesses are more at risk to threats than smaller ones. 3:06 Now, I find this interesting, right? If you believe that, then you are sadly mistaken. Now, this is interesting too. I wish I didn't have to say that because... 3:16 and I wish it was a myth, but the fact is that every company, large or small, is a target. Now, this is what's interesting. 3:27 Every business is equally at risk, and I think we need to really understand this because that includes your business. And here is where the numbers get a bit dicey, and this is why I want to share them with you today. 3:41 According to the report, forty-two percent believe they are prepared for any potential attack. Yet, here's the irony. Seventy-one percent admit they do not have a formal plan in place. 3:56 Now, [laughs] I am not quite sure how that all adds up. Now think about that. I see a very serious dichotomy here in this thinking, right? It just doesn't make sense. 4:09 Looking at the data, it seems SME owners have the underlying belief that they will not be targeted, thus they do not see the value in putting money into the cyber side of the house. 4:24 I wonder what the bad guys are saying who are listening right now. I know what I'm thinking they're saying. Previous studies have shown repeatedly everyone should be monitoring cybersecurity. 4:39 While sixty-six percent of SMEs say it's worth it to make a huge investment in cybersecurity or in security in general, the evidence is clear. 4:51 SMEs have the best intentions, but again, money is often lacking in this area, and many are failing to put forth their best foot forward when it comes to cyber and security measures. 5:07 So as I've mentioned, and these reports show, there has been a four-point-nine million dollar drop in IT security budgets since twenty-nineteen. 5:18 Now first, I have to admit I like the fact that a password management and authentication solutions company based in Sweden with offices here in the US is asking these tough questions. 5:31 That's why we're talking about it today. But I think we have the bigger question is still on the table, and that's what I started the show with. Who's responsible? Is it the employee or the employer? 5:45 So let's start by looking at the employee. If we dig into the numbers from a...Visual objects, and here's another survey. 5:55 More than one-third of full-time employees at companies in the United States admitted to not practicing basic cybersecurity protocols during COVID-19. 6:07 Now, another study, the same organization found that roughly sixty-three percent of full-time US employees have reused the same passwords on work accounts and on devices. 6:20 The biggest culprit here might not have come to a surprise of all of us or, or even maybe some of you, is the data shows that millennial workers are six point five times more likely to always reuse work passwords than baby boomers who have safer password practices. 6:42 Now, this is kind of ironic if you think about it. However, employees are fighting back. Roughly ninety-one percent say companies are at least slightly responsible for cybersecurity. This is where things get a bit murky. 6:58 Now, this is where I want us to talk a little bit more about it. Many of these workers say their companies aren't requiring secure Wi-Fi networks, 7:08 phishing training, two-factor authentication, virtual private networks or password managers. So if that's the case, now we have to ask the question, what about the employers? 7:22 So another survey shows currently thirty-five percent of employees are required to use a secure Wi-Fi network, while thirty-one percent are required to use two-factor authentication. 7:38 And here again, I'm gonna give you more numbers. I like a lot of numbers here today. It's a little overwhelming, but think about it. 7:43 Another thirty-one percent are required to use a virtual private network, and thirty-two percent receive phishing training. So therein lies all the rub in all of this. 7:56 Some companies may not be investing heavily in cybersecurity due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, and we get that. But here's another way to put it. 8:07 ResearchAndMarkets says the global cybersecurity market is expected to grow from a hundred and forty-nine point forty-six billion dollars in twenty-nineteen to a hundred and fifty-two point twenty-one billion dollars in twenty-twenty. 8:23 This is a rate of one point eight three, almost two percent. The slow growth is mainly due to the COVID-19 outbreak. So as a result, company budgets for cybersecurity software is expected to decline. 8:40 So the market then is expected to recover and reach two hundred and eight billion dollars by twenty twenty-three, which is a rate of eleven percent. Think about that. 8:54 And I'm telling you right now, the bad guys are out there going, "This is, uh, just ripe for the picking." 9:01 They're sitting there going, "Look, if small businesses aren't investing, if the large companies are sitting there going, 'Look, our, our people are remote,' we can figure out a way to get in there and attack these systems." 9:15 So you can't ignore it. You've got to make sure your people are staying vigilant, they're doing the right things. If they're not, you're going to get attacked, and guess what? It's gonna be a nightmare. 9:28 I've said this many times on this show before. We've always got to think about cyber. 9:33 We've always got to think about the nefarious guy and gal out there who's just bored to death and says, "Eh, let's just do this for kicks." It's not kicks. It's gonna be a nightmare. So here's my opinion for today. 9:48 Who is responsible? I do agree security programs and protocols start at the top, but it is ultimately up to employees who need to follow through here. I think we all have to think about this. 10:03 We are all responsible for good cyber hygiene practices. This is especially critical as we are living in an era where we are moving our data from more often to the cloud and to the edge. 10:17 We talk about that every day, right? And it's important. We know roughly ninety-six percent of people plan to move sensitive data to the cloud in the next two years. 10:29 We need to make security a top priority as all of this happens. And as I see it, we need employees who help execs see the cyber light. And that's so important. 10:42 It's going to be a heck of a lot worse if a hack occurs. And I'm telling you, you're gonna wish you did all the things you should have, and you're not gonna look back and go, "Well, I wish we could have." 10:55 You're gonna say, "I'm glad we did." So help your company prevent the dark side from coming in and invading your company. Show you care enough just like you would your own system at home. Protect it. 11:10 Employees who show they care a lot more are valuable. You're a more valuable employee than those who just go through the motions every day. 11:19 You have to be an employee that steps up and says, "Look, even though we're all running around and we've got so many things on our plates," you have to show your company you're valuable and that you care about cyber. 11:31 You care about protecting a company's data. And, and here's my tip. Now is the time to protect all of our data because data is the new gold, as we always talk about that. It's so valuable. 11:44 We are racing fast and furious to implement new artificial intelligence and machine learning and Internet of Things projects, but we need to take the time to consider how we secure all of this valuable information, all of this data. 12:02 Otherwise, we are going to be sitting targets for all those bad guys, all those nefarious characters, and I say it repeatedly because we forget about them. How are you going to proceed as we move to a better normal? 12:18 I always say that, a better normal, because it is going to be a better normal. We have to hope for a better normal. I know that's what I'm thinking about during this holiday season, a better normal. 12:28 The more we care, the more we are showing we want and need a better normal for the better tomorrow, it'll be better for all of us, and that's what I'm hoping for all of you. All right. 12:39 We are out of time, but you know what I want you to do? I want you to tweet at me at connectedwmag. 12:43 I really am curious what you think about all of this, because it's great that I'm sharing all of my thoughts, but I'm always eager to hear from you. So let's engage. 12:52 Let's engage on LinkedIn, let's engage on Twitter at connectedwmag, because most importantly, I wanna hear from you. 12:58 And I want you to check out our website at connectedworld.com or go to the show website at peggysmedley show.com. 13:05 But we're gonna take a quick commercial break, and then we're gonna come right back, 'cause as I mentioned, we've got some great guests. 13:11 As always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. We'll be right back after this quick break. 13:21 [upbeat music]
