As the world has adjusted over the last eight months to operate under the “new normal” of life amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so has our relationship with technology. For many, our homes have become classrooms, offices, and even gyms, connecting us virtually to our communities at an unprecedented scale. For those who continue to serve on the front lines of this public health crisis, demand for access to real-time, reliable information continues to increase as the global race to a cure continues. For others, technology has offered a tool to connect with loved ones and coworkers when they cannot do so together in person.
Now, more than ever, the line between our online and offline lives is indistinguishable, and that line will continue to blur over time. By some projections, there will be more than 41 billion connected devices by 2027, up from about 8 billion in 2019. This network of connections creates both opportunities and challenges for individuals and organizations across the globe.
Against the backdrop of parallel crises that continue to unfold across the United States, October is recognized by information security professionals as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM); 31 days intended to offer U.S. organizations and individuals an opportunity to reflect on the actions they have taken and the role they play in the preservation of security and privacy of digital information. This year’s NCSAM theme, “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart” emphasizes the importance of personal accountability in our nation’s collective pursuit of bolstered security for any connected device, anywhere.
We at Virtru could not agree more with the spirit of this year’s NCSAM theme and are proud to play a role in supporting our customers, partners, and communities as we collectively navigate these uncertain times. Virtru was created from the belief that data privacy is both an economic and national security imperative, and today, Virtru remains committed to helping organizations and individuals realize the true potential of their data while protecting it from misuse, abuse, and theft.
With a focus on ease of use and granular, data-level protection through attribute-based access control (ABAC), Virtru grants organizations the freedom to get the job done while maintaining the peace of mind that comes with the power of privacy. As home, school, and work have become physically indistinguishable, Virtru ensures that enterprise information is protected regardless of last-mile network connection.
The healthcare industry, specifically, is increasingly reliant upon IoT devices and solutions to improve efficiency, patient care, speed of crisis response, and much more. The emergence of telemedicine, digital health records, internet-connected medical devices, patient wellness apps, and an increasing amount of third parties entering the health supply chain has created many benefits, but has also exposed the industry to vulnerabilities that cyber criminals regularly attempt to exploit.
As demand for real-time, shareable health data has spiked with the onset of calls for novel coronavirus-related contact tracing, Virtru is working to ensure that public health objectives are met rapidly and in a patient privacy-preserving manner. Further, as the proliferation of connected devices accelerates across sectors, increasing the complexity of an already heterogeneous data fabric, Virtru is pioneering a new method of encrypting and managing access to data that ensures confidentiality from the moment of creation for the smallest, most bandwidth-constrained devices, even in offline mode.
This month, and every month, Virtru strives to #BeCyberSmart. We invite you to join us and learn more about how you can Do Your Part.