What will the cybersecurity landscape look like for associations in 2020?

The landscape is continuing to shift to a mobile workforce. Every year, more workers are working remotely. Not only that—more workers are working with devices outside of an association’s control. In 2020, you need to focus on how to protect resources from the unknowns of the “bring your own devices” trend. Associations must also protect corporate assets (examples: PCs and laptops) as employees travel outside the office and connect to unprotected networks.

What’s one cyber threat most nonprofits are at risk of right now?

It’s hard to pick just one, so let’s talk about a common issue—ransomware. In my opinion, it’s the most common type of breach and the most time consuming, plus it’s costly to remediate. Not only does remediation take great effort, but a ransomware attack can bring business operations to a halt until fixed. And when you can’t service your members, the costs of not being able to do business are extremely high. This type of attack is constantly evolving and growing more sophisticated, so keeping up with how to protect yourself is paramount.

What are some steps associations can take to keep their cyber defenses strong?

A small win that won’t break the budget is utilizing software as a service (SaaS) for email, phone, file sharing, or collaboration tools. SaaS seems like it’s been around for awhile, but in my opinion, we’re still inside a five-year timeframe where it’s strong enough to match or beat on-premises solutions from a technology and security standpoint. SaaS stays consistently updated and patched, and best of all, it takes the worry out of maintaining, upgrading, and protecting systems.

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