From introducing contactless payment options to offering new virtual services, small businesses moved swiftly to expand their offerings and digital capabilities in light of social distancing guidelines. In the midst of these changes, however, it’s critical for small businesses and restaurants to make sure they’re guarding against potential cyber threats. Here are key steps they can take to help ensure that they stay protected.

How do we respond to this increased focus on security? One option would be to simply increase the security standards being enforced. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this would create substantial improvements. Instead, we should be talking about restructuring security policies. In this post, we’ll examine how security standards look today and 5 ways they can be dramatically improved with new approaches and tooling.

A company’s in-house chief information security officer (CISO) is a key component to making sure the risk of a cyberattack or security breach is greatly reduced. The responsibilities of this position are critical for businesses working to protect themselves against cyberthreats, but the reality is, some companies can’t afford to add another member to the c-suite with an average salary of up to $250K. However, there’s another option: a virtual CISO or vCISO.

While the rough seas may be behind businesses, now is not the time to rest. It’s important for security leaders to remain diligent about their company’s security posture and adapt to the latest state of the world. Focusing on people, processes, and technology is not only the foundation to a solid cybersecurity strategy, but also absolutely critical at a time where workers have never been further from security teams’ protection.

Is your company’s cybersecurity policy as effective as it should be amid these tumultuous times? And if you’re not an employee but the owner of a small business – typically someone with much less sophisticated cybersecurity protection – how does your online security stack up? The answer: Cybersecurity has improved, but markedly more has to be done to secure networks in 2021, the second year of the pandemic, as the number of cyberattacks has become staggering.

Security budgets are tighter than ever, and security professionals need to leverage existing investments smartly, and use innovative security solutions that maximize ROI. Here are seven safety and security solutions that security and loss prevention leaders should consider:

As global tensions continue to escalate, the Internet may find itself used as a weapon, something we are already starting to see happen, by nations attempting to exert their influence and enforce greater internal control over digital commerce and communication. Nations must recognize the threat of escalation beyond the point of no return and take steps to ensure that the interconnectivity of the open Internet remains intact long-term. This will prevent a “cyber dark age” in which governments implement national Internet protocols and stop the free flow of data across borders.

It’s within this expanded terrain for cyberattacks that the security trends of 2021 and beyond are taking shape. Workers are engaging with company resources from diverse locations. At the same time, businesses have ramped up their digitalization journeys to be more flexible and agile after COVID-19’s disruption of supply chains. The result is a dynamic tech environment where the continuity of business operations – and ultimately market competitiveness – will rely on robust cyber protections.