Protecting Data, Emerging Threats Hot Topics at Channel Partners Virtual


Among the topics were securing data in motion, opportunities for MSPs and more.

Protecting data was a big topic at this week’s Channel Partners Virtual, with numerous sessions focusing on the latest threats and solutions.

Among the highlights were our latest Cybersecurity Thunderdome, as well as sessions focusing on protecting data in motion and 2021 predictions.

Webroot's Joe Cerrone

Webroot’s Joe Cerrone

In his session, Joe Cerrone, MSP account manager at Webroot, highlighted the many challenges to protecting data in 2021. The predictions were chilling, but also good news for MSPs.

“The cybersecurity skills gap is going to continue to widen, meaning businesses will continue to struggle to stay resilient against cyberattacks,” he said. “This will force them to increase their cybersecurity spend. They’re going to reallocate budget to secure the new hybrid workforce, creating a massive opportunity for MSPs to sell their services.”

To manage the skills gap, managed endpoint detection and response (EDR) supported by artificial intelligence (AI) will replace the traditional security operations center (SOC), Cerrone said.

Regarding the threat landscape, Emotet is very prevalent and Webroot expects it will remain the most active botnet, he said. It will continue to serve as a malware distribution service.

“And business email compromise will have yet another record year,” Cerrone said. “It accounted for over $2 billion [in losses] in the United States alone in 2020.”

Deepfakes will be increasingly easier to create, making misinformation a leading threat that companies must defend against, he said. In addition, phishing pages will primarily use HTTPS. It’s not as secure as originally thought.

And the most unsettling stat?

“We’re going to see a single ransomware victim may over $50 million to restore their data,” Cerrone said. “And as we know for a lot of businesses, that is a death sentence. And we’re also going to see cybercriminals expanding their ransomware targeting from government, education and health care organizations to manufacturing and supply chains.”

Tech Data's Chris DeRosiers

Tech Data’s Chris DeRosiers

Privafy's Kumar Vishwanathan

Privafy’s Kumar Vishwanathan

Another session focused on securing data…

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