Last month’s ASUS APT attack doesn’t come as a surprise to any security-conscious industry watcher – this highlights a long-standing flaw in many software supply chains today. Attackers have been engaged in spoofing websites, stealing credentials and gaining unauthorized access for years. Injecting malicious code into legitimate tools that are designed to protect represents the next evolution in putting companies and their customers at risk.

Both the government and the private sector are scrambling for talent. Thousands of information-security jobs are going unfilled as the industry in the U.S. struggles with a shortage of properly trained professionals. By one estimate, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021.

Many enterprises face challenges when choosing the right security partners to implement and maintain their systems. Security management places a premium on their specific physical security strategies, either because of the complexity of their needs, or the specific system demands and compliance regulations associated with their specific business classification. Therefore, the goal should be to partner with suppliers whose focus is to deliver the solutions that best fulfil desired system functionality and operations.

It can be expected that costs associated with cybercrime will rise in the near to medium term and have a material impact on the global economy – while putting individual citizens’ and corporations’ important data at risk by cyber criminals. Due to the convergence of an escalation in the number of security vulnerabilities, an increase in hacker capabilities and tools as well as new legislation being enacted in the European Union, the estimated costs due to cybercrime may be conservative.

Multiple cyber-attacks and compromise of personal information of millions of people globally show that the complexity and intensity of cybersecurity attacks are on the rise, and it could have broader political and economic ramifications. As cybercrimes become more lucrative and cybercriminals become smarter, cybersecurity too will have to be intelligence driven, enabling a swift response to the advanced attacks.

In 2018, we witnessed some of the biggest data breaches ever – affecting businesses and consumers alike. From social media, hospitality, healthcare and even mail delivery, 2018 proved that there is no escaping cybersecurity flaws, regardless of the type of business or its popularity. For example, we witnessed the data of approximately 500 million Marriot guests get breached and a USPS security flaw that exposed the personal data of more than 60 million people.

Many security professionals charged with either protecting us or our infrastructure have suffered from severe cut wounds during physical confrontations. Recently developed slash resistant clothing is set to make a real difference.

When traveling for business, it’s necessary for safety precautions to extend beyond the typical nine to five working parameters. Throughout the entirety of a business trip, business travelers should remain diligent around the clock, taking additional precautions to ensure their personal safety. There are several security measures both a business and its mobile workforce should keep in mind as they book business travel accommodations, check into their hotels in remote locations and conduct business while in an unfamiliar area.

Within the enterprise security and risk management community, there’s no debate about the financial impact of business downtime — a single hour of downtime can mean over $100,000 in losses for the overwhelming majority of businesses. But the consequences of downtime aren’t just monetary; they can be reputational as well.