Cybersecurity in 2021: ITPro Today’s Top 10 Stories

Enterprise cybersecurity in 2021 saw sophisticated threat detection and prevention strategies go mainstream. After the mad scramble of 2020, IT teams took stock of their organizations’ ragtag environments and changed defensive tactics. These efforts involved implementing new technologies and frameworks to protect distributed IT infrastructure and remote workers.

ITPro Today’s 10 most-read security stories examine the situation from various angles. Read through the articles below for technology overviews, how-tos, security conference coverage and more.

1. How One Healthcare System Bolstered Third-Party Security

Healthcare providers face an ongoing challenge of keeping up with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. For providers like WellSpan Health, which has about 200 patient care locations in Pennsylvania, HIPAA concerns can stem from using large networks of external workers. This case study explores how WellSpan Health tackled third-party security risks by deploying identity and access management technology.

2. How to Choose the Optimum Cyber Insurance Coverage

The current threat landscape has prompted many organizations to purchase cyber insurance. The cyber insurance market hasn’t yet matured, however. Policies can differ widely in what they will cover. Find out what organizations should consider when evaluating cyber insurance plans.  

3. Interop Digital Cybersecurity Event to Address New Realities

Enterprise security experienced a reckoning in recent years as threats became more pervasive and sophisticated. Ahead of April’s Interop Digital cybersecurity forum, we examined the overarching themes IT pros would grapple with at the event. Interop Digital speakers planned to discuss such topics as cloud security, emerging technologies, and collaboration between IT and security operations.

4. RSA Conference 2021: Different, but Just as Relevant

This year’s virtual RSA Conference, held in May, focused on the theme of resilience. Ahead of the conference, ITPro Today contributor Karen D. Schwartz looked at how RSA would adapt the conference experience to a virtual format.

5. How to Use Group Policy to Push Windows Registry Keys to End Users

Administrators can use Microsoft Windows registry keys to enforce diverse security policies. Tech expert Brien Posey notes how administrators can push Windows registry keys to end users via Group Policy. Get a detailed explanation of each step of the process in this how-to article.

6. Moving Your Organization's SecOps Beyond the Pandemic

Security operations teams had full plates this year, thanks in large part to the ongoing challenges wrought by the pandemic. And enterprise security strategies must continue to evolve to accommodate distributed IT infrastructure and remote workforces. At the Interop Digital conference, a panel of security experts discussed tools and strategies for orchestrating and automating SecOps.

7. How Password Salting Can Improve Your Security

A basic tenet of password management is to never store plain-text passwords in authentication systems. Password salting, a technique that goes beyond password hashing, can greatly improve security. Read this article to learn how password salting works.

8. More Businesses Are Reaping the Benefits of a SASE Solution

A small but growing segment of businesses have begun using secure access service edge (SASE) services. SASE services, which offers an alternative to VPNs, combine software-defined security and software-defined networking. Learn about the benefits of SASE and whether it’s a good fit for your organization.

9. AI-Based Intrusion Prevention Solution Boasts Major Successes

In January, cybersecurity firm Intrusion completed beta testing of its Shield appliance, an AI-based threat detection and prevention platform. In this article, a beta tester highlights Shield’s strengths -- plus, features that would improve the platform’s capabilities.

10. What Is Endpoint Protection?

For readers that are new to cybersecurity, here’s a good place to start. This overview of endpoint protection explains the basics of how it works, what to look for in products, and examples of deployments.

What was the most important lesson you learned about cybersecurity in 2021? Tell us in the comments below!