Information Security Challenges
Information security is becoming more and more complex with technological advancements. Organizations have to integrate sophisticated information security systems to avoid any unintentional or malicious threats. But there are always challenges associated with information security. Following are some of the prime information security challenges:
- External Breaches: One of the most damaging elements for organizations is the external breach in their data centers. There are multiple reasons that can cause an external breach, but the most likely one is the incompetency of the information security team which left some loopholes in the protection system. Not just hackers can exploit these gaps, employees can also unintentionally get the victim of those gaps and send some valuable data out.
- Insider Threats: There are two variants of insider threats, namely planned malicious threats or unintentional human-error threats. Malicious threats are meant to give harm, so their occurrence is not a lot, but the occurrence of the unintentional threat can be on daily basis. This is primarily due to the usage of more personalized devices (IoT-based) and individual identities. Such devices don’t have strong security protocols attached to them, so a user might unintentionally leak out the information to a third-party without even knowing about it.
- Weak Supply Chain Links: Supply chain is a fundamental part of a system for companies that offer products/services. During the product/service development, important information is shared within the organization and also with vendors. This lets the information get in the hand of those who might have negative motives. Even if the vendors or other external personnel have no bad intentions, the loopholes in their security systems might result in an information breach.
- Wireless Computing, Mobile Workforce, and IoT Breaches: The way employees work in a corporate sector is totally different from what it was a couple of decades ago. Today, wireless computing and the availability of mobile computing devices have eased the communication and working environment. Most of the employees use the same computer for office and personal use. So, the information security protocols cannot be implemented effectively in them, causing the sensitive information vulnerable to threats. Similarly, the IoT devices are significantly contributing their role in the corporate sector with dozens of such devices connected to the central network. Loopholes in such central sophisticated systems can give rise to vulnerable threats.
Other than these prime challenges, there are many other small to medium information security challenges, such as incompetency or shortage of information security staff, government regulations, etc.