Small businesses face a number of complicated challenges every day, which require a variety of solutions. They spend a lot of time trying to understand evolving customer needs, monitoring cash flow, keeping up with compliance changes and other urgent day-to-day issues. A number of other issues, such as cybersecurity, often get put on the back burner. Unfortunately, this leaves businesses vulnerable to very serious risks.
The importance of online security cannot be overstated. One study found that 60% of businesses that fall victim to a security breach go into bankruptcy within six months. Data breaches are not rare, either. Around one and five small businesses will fall victim to a cyberattack each year.
A cloud access security broker (CASB) can provide the security that they need. There are a number of benefits of CASB solutions that all SMEs should be aware of. These solutions could keep small businesses from going bankrupt.
What are the benefits of CASBs that could save small businesses from bankruptcy?
The market for CASBs has grown remarkably over the last few years. Almost no companies even heard of this technology back in 2012. However, Gartner estimates that 85% of large organizations will use a CASB by the end of next year.
Cloud access security brokers can be just as valuable to small businesses that are shrewd enough to take advantage of them. Small businesses that are in industries that are prone to cybersecurity attacks should be aware of the benefits as well. Some of the top selling points of CASBs are listed below.
Consolidation of security features
There are multiple layers of every digital security infrastructure. In the past, businesses needed a fragmented framework to address security concerns. This often required them to use a variety of different services from multiple vendors. This fragmented approach raised several concerns:
- Some security solutions have compatibility issues with each other. This could create unforeseeable security vulnerabilities.
- With any online security infrastructure, the chain is only going to be a strong as its weakest link. If any of the companies overseeing the security elements goes bankrupt, own falls victim to a data breach of its own or encounters any other issues, then the entire system can be unreliable.
- Various security solutions can have overlapping features, which can unnecessarily consume bandwidth.
- Some security solutions are not reliable enough. The more vendors that an organization needs to rely on for security, the greater the risk of relying on a poor vendor will be.
A CASB resolves these issues. It is able to merge various security features, so organizations can have a single, central security solution.
Shadow IT protection
An effective cybersecurity solution should provide protection against virtually all known threats. However, hackers are often developing new insidious forms of malware and other malicious applications every day. Even the most renowned organizations that provide cybersecurity technology cannot always keep up.
CASBs are aware of their limits. They recognize that they have not been able to vet every application on the market, so they provide reasonable warnings to organizations before new software is downloaded or content is accessed.
Minimize the risk of data leaks
Data loss prevention is a very important element of any successful security solution. CASBs have very sophisticated constraints built-in to prevent data leaks.
They help organizations create the right constraints and make sure they are properly enforced. These include a variety of pragmatic restrictions, such as limiting content based on geography, time and user permissions.
Improving cost effectiveness of online security
Digital security is essential for every organization. However, it can also be rather expensive. Many small businesses forgo instituting adequate online security, because they feel it is to cost prohibitive.
Businesses no longer have an excuse for failing to setup a decent security infrastructure, since CASB solutions are available. CASBs are incredibly cost-effective, so even businesses on small budgets will be able to afford them.
CASB technology is critical to organizational security
As we head into 2020, businesses need to be aware of the evolving cybersecurity landscape. They need to take advantage of new technology to ensure their infrastructure is adequately protected. CASB tools are incredibly beneficial. They are highly reliable and affordable.