This year’s big security threats—sort of

If you’re inclined to ease into the new year with some IT security predictions for 2019, there’s no shortage:

Here are 10 from Tech Radar, five more from Security Boulevard, and another four from BetaNews. (I prefer TechCrunch’s snarkier approach.)

Are you selling the right data security basics?

The kicker is that even though there are new and more complex threats each year to keep up with, the basics of security remain the same for your customers:

• Secure your data. Sounds obvious, but it doesn’t always happen.

• Back up your data—off-site and off-line.

• Obscure or delete data you don’t need. Regulations, whether from Brussels or Sacramento, can turn customer data that used to seem innocuous into a legal nightmare, not just a security burden.

• Encrypt the data you do need. Customer lists, business plans, confidential agreements—every enterprise has data that should stay private.

• Use strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and access governance. The most common passwords won’t cut it for long, and even the best passwords can fall to brute-force guesswork.

Get good ammunition

If you’re providing security solutions to customers (software, hardware, education, or ongoing monitoring), while you know that there are no magic bullets, you can show that you have good ammunition.

• White papers that show you objectively understand real-world problems

• Solution briefs that highlight your organization’s concrete answers to customer problems

• Infographics and social media that open your customer’s eyes to the risks they face

• Blog posts that keep customers current, and demonstrate your products’ capabilities and evolution

Smart customers, smart partners

Remember that your customers are smart. Be sure your marketing partners are equally smart.

Look for people who understand the right vocabulary, and who see IT security as an integrated process and as part of an ecosystem—not a problem with a simple one-and-done solution.

Partner with DeLaune for thoughtful digital marketing. (You’ll be in good company.)