Cyber security innovations that could change the face of your workplace

Below are three of the most innovative ways businesses are keeping themselves safe in the face of the increasingly sophisticated hacking techniques.

Blockchain cybersecurity

When you hear the phrase blockchain, it’s likely your mind turns to cryptocurrency. In fact, the same technology can be a powerful tool for those looking to protect their data.

The reason blockchain is so secure, is because it distributes record-keeping across a network, so transaction verification processes no longer rely on a single central institution.

Its decentralised structure offers inherent security benefits as it eliminates the single point of failure. Data on blockchains can't be altered because several nodes cross-reference changes and require consensus to verify transactions.

This form of security has a number of uses, from increasing traceability in financial records, but also across supply chains where a digital ledger can be put in place to store tamper-proof records of transaction and freight data across a products life cycle.

Recently Barclays Bank filed a patent to begin developing blockchain security for their transaction records.

Zero Trust systems

For those in the IT field, a phrase from the cold war has survived to the present day: “Trust but verify”. It relates to the practice of checking user credentials before allowing access to private networks, but then granting freedom to remain logged in and access all areas of the network as long as the user is active.

But things are changing, hackers are increasingly breaking through these security measures and wreaking havoc across systems or stealing valuable private data. Any access point could potentially spell a weak point for infiltration.

Put simply, Zero Trust systems rely more on the idea of “never trust, always verify” – only granting access to one specific area and repeatedly verifying the user’s identity multiple times as they make their way around a network.

While this happens, it ensures that no user is ever given an all-access pass to wander through data as they please. This means that, even if there is a breach, it will more likely remain localised and unable to spread across an entire network. This adds a further level of safeguarding to data.

While zero-trust systems may appear frustrating to users, they are often employed by some of the most secure government organisations, highlighting their efficacy if used properly.

Behavioural analytics

Have you ever handed your phone to someone else, only to watch them struggle to navigate how you’ve arranged your apps? This is how a typical hacker behaves the first time they try to navigate your files, searching around to find what they’re looking for. They don’t know where they’re going like an experienced user.

Now, AI exists that is able to watch how we work and flag when someone else has taken over the controls by identifying changes in behaviour. This can provide another line of defence against anyone maliciously using your credentials for criminal purposes.

Behavioural analytics work by identifying the patterns of a user and comparing it to a typical baseline. For example, you might check your emails first thing followed by logging onto messenger services. But when you don’t do that, the AI notices. It may not raise the alarm straight away, but it begins watching more closely.

If more and more patterns are broken, or unusual data access continues to happen, the AI will flag this to IT Security as a potential breach for further investigation, hopefully nipping any system intrusion in the bud or merely interrupting a user’s morning with a quick check on what they’re doing.

While these systems may feel a little invasive to some, they sit in the background without intruding on employees’ work, letting IT departments breathe a little easier and focus on other priority tasks in the meantime.

Stay ahead of the curve

As businesses continue to push digitisation forward, it’s important that they leave room for the implementation of leading cybersecurity features to ensure that any great leap forward isn’t accompanied by falling over the first hurdle.

From safeguarding supply chains and logistics, to keeping client and customer data secure, there are sophisticated solutions on offer to suit the bespoke needs of any business. Now is the time to take the strain away from IT teams and let computers work to keep themselves safe for a seamless and safer operational future.

Read how our hardware, services and solutions provide triple-layer security across your network, devices and documents – protecting confidentiality and locking out infiltrators: Security x Brother.