Ransomware is a strain of malware that blocks users (or a company) from accessing their personal data or apps on infected iOS, iPadOS, and Android mobile devices, macOS laptops, Windows personal computers and servers, and Linux servers. Then the exploit demands cryptocurrency as payment to unblock the locked or encrypted data and apps. This form of cyber extortion has been increasing in frequency and ferocity over the past several years.

Covid made the hypothetical necessity of IT risk planning a reality. Many organizations responded to the immediate need for remote workforces by adding more VPN licenses. But while adding more VPN capacity solved the problem of resource access, it also led to network bottlenecks and application latencies.

As you may have heard, Ivanti was selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) to participate as a collaborator in its Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture project.

Five worthy reads is a regular column on five noteworthy items we’ve discovered while researching trending and timeless topics. This week, we explore why organizations should implement Zero Trust in 2021. In 2010, John Kindervag introduced the concept of “Zero Trust” which has become a touchstone for cyber resilience and persistent security. Zero Trust is not a security product, architecture, or technology.

At the start of the pandemic, IT organizations had to undergo radical changes to support remote work. Given the urgency to shift to remote operations, IT admins opted for band-aid solutions to retain business continuity and stay connected to the core of their networks from remote locations. But now, many organizations are moving toward hybrid workforce options with employees choosing to work from both their home and office locations.

AI monitoring technologies have the potential to introduce significant cost savings for CSPs. Based on machine learning and fully autonomous, these monitoring solutions provide high ROI by dramatically reducing Time to Detection (TTR), Time to Resolution (TTR), the total number of alerts, and the number of false positives and negatives.

I have often joked that IT, and in particular cybersecurity, is like fashion — not a lot is ever new, just reimagined and, in some cases, improved. As I sit pondering the beauty of my COVID-19 comb-over mullet, I have found myself thinking about how this fashion analogy applies to zero trust.

Let’s be honest for a second. This is a corporate blog. Yes, we aim to provide our readers with actionable, educational information. And, yes, we strive for complete transparency. But, at the end of the day, we understand if you’re skeptical of some of what’s written here. We’re a business, not a news publication, and it’s impossible for us to be completely unbiased all the time.