NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is a federal agency under the responsibility of the US Department of Commerce. Established in 1901 to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness in the US, NIST helps organizations advance measurement science, technology, and standards to improve the quality of life for citizens and enhance economic security.

$132.94 billion. That’s the size of the cybersecurity market today. But despite the massive investment in money, time, and expertise, organizations have never been more at risk of an attack. What’s causing the disconnect? Despite all the effort to ensure security, there is an equally massive and growing effort to exploit vulnerable organizations.

Forensic investigators can track your exact location by following the biological traces left on every object you touched. In the digital world, your online activity is much easier to track because digital prints are larger, harder to hide, and even harder to erase. This poses a serious cybersecurity problem for all businesses.

Cybercriminals choose their targets based on two conditions - maximum impact and maximum profit. Financial institutions perfectly meet these conditions because they store highly valuable data, and their digital transformation efforts are creating greater opportunities for cyber attackers to access that data. This is why the financial sector is disproportionately targeted by cybercriminals, behind healthcare.

The most relevant cybersecurity threat to most businesses may be human, not technical. A sudden wave of cybercrime paired with longstanding tech labor challenges has created a cybersecurity skills gap, leaving companies without the expertise they need. Some companies lack dedicated security staff entirely, while others have a small, overworked department trying to manage massive workloads. Companies that hope to stay safe need to address this talent shortage.

The popularity of cloud services has increased exponentially in recent years. The prospects of saving on capital and operational expenditures have been significant driving forces in influencing companies to adopt cloud services. Scalability and elasticity are also key drivers that encourage companies to move to the cloud. However, moving to the cloud comes with a lot of challenges. Security is a big concern for organizations that want to migrate to the cloud.

The internet has become a crucial part of how journalists discover what’s happening around the world and share their findings with the public. It’s an invaluable tool that also poses a number of risks. If you’re a member of the press, you might be worried about, or have already experienced, criminals trying to hijack your accounts, governments attempting to monitor your online activity, or trolls harassing you on social media.