Cybersecurity is a Shared Responsibility
Strong privacy, security, and compliance practices are fundamental for any organization. At FormAssembly, we prioritize these principles. We not only maintain the highest cybersecurity standards but empower our users to do the same.
Cyberattacks are a dime a dozen and change shape by the hour, making it crucial for both individuals and organizations to stay vigilant. This blog will explore the biggest cybersecurity challenges of 2025 and equip you with the knowledge to safeguard your data.
Data breaches pose a significant risk for companies and individuals due to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Here are some key areas of vulnerability:
Remote Work
The shift to remote work during the pandemic sparked significant changes in how businesses operate. While some organizations have returned to the office, a sizable number of employees continue to work remotely, creating unique security challenges.
Remote endpoints, such as home networks, are often less secure than office environments. Although VPNs provide a layer of protection, they can slow down internet speeds, impacting productivity. Although managing access and usage remotely has improved considerably, the human element remains a critical vulnerability.
Security lapses are common when employees use public Wi-Fi, reuse passwords instead of leveraging password managers, or fail to update their systems regularly. These gaps expose organizations to increased risks of hacking and phishing attacks.
Employers must continue to emphasize robust cybersecurity measures, ongoing training, and tools that simplify secure practices for remote employees to address these evolving threats.
Phishing Attacks: An Ever-Present Threat
Phishing attacks—whether via email (phishing, spear phishing) or text (smishing)—are increasingly sophisticated and deceptive. Their primary goal is to steal personal information or lure users into clicking malicious links. Attackers exploit the abundance of personal data available online, enabling them to convincingly impersonate coworkers, vendors, or clients. This makes it challenging for employees to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent communications amidst their daily influx of messages.
Effective countermeasures include regular employee training to recognize warning signs, implementing email filtering tools, and ensuring two-factor authentication (2FA) is in place to protect against unauthorized access. Organizations must foster a culture of vigilance, equipping their teams with the knowledge and tools necessary to combat these persistent threats.
Accidental Data Disclosure: Managing Human Error
Human error continues to be a leading cause of data breaches. Employees with access to sensitive information may inadvertently leak it by using work devices for personal activities or misconfiguring access settings.
FormAssembly’s Director of Security and Compliance, David Scovetta, notes, “Sharing configurations publicly instead of keeping them internal can expose sensitive information.” This issue highlights the critical need for controlled data-sharing practices and clearly defined guidelines for information management.
To mitigate these risks, organizations should implement automated data protection tools, limit access to sensitive data on a need-to-know basis, and routinely audit systems for potential vulnerabilities. Regular training ensures employees understand the consequences of data mishandling and empowers them to safeguard corporate assets.
5 Security Hygiene Best Practices
The threat of cyberattacks may leave you feeling concerned or vulnerable, but there are many steps organizations can—and should—take to keep data, customers, and employees safe. Here are the top five cybersecurity best practices for better data security.
1. Protect and manage passwords: your first line of defense
Passwords are often overlooked as a security measure, yet they remain one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect sensitive information. Unfortunately, weak passwords such as “123456” or “password” are still widely used, making them easy targets for hackers.
A best practice is to use passwords with at least 10 characters, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The more complex and unique the password, the exponentially harder it is for a hacker to crack. One helpful tip is to use the first letters of a favorite phrase or song to create a memorable and strong password.
However, even with strong passwords, managing them across numerous accounts can be daunting. This is where password managers, like LastPass, prove invaluable. They allow users to generate and store complex passwords securely, with the added convenience of remembering just one master password. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds another critical layer of security, requiring additional verification beyond the password.
FormAssembly’s Director of Security and Compliance, David Scovetta, warns against reusing passwords: “Credential stuffing is a really common attack vector where bad actors look at prior breach records and see where else users are using the same name and password.”
By utilizing password managers, enabling MFA, and avoiding password reuse, both individuals and organizations can significantly bolster their defenses against unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
2. Conduct routine employee security training
The saying “you don’t know what you don’t know,” rings true for cybersecurity awareness. If companies don’t provide regular, in-depth training on cybersecurity best practices, chances are their employees won’t seek it out themselves. In fact, over 90 percent of cyberattacks occur because an unaware employee revealed sensitive information in a phishing scam.
A great way to make sure everyone is on the same page is by providing education on the different types of cyberattacks and how to stay alert to these threats. “
“And most importantly, how to escalate to your own security teams if you do come across something which seems unusual,” Scovetta says.
Regular training, assessments, and even random simulated phishing attacks are all simple ways to keep everyone alert and aware. It’s also important to establish cybersecurity awareness as vital to the safety of your employees and customers, rather than simply framing it as a “necessary evil.”
3. Regularly back up data, (and backup those backups)
Digital data loss or corruption is a serious disaster, but it can be prevented with a few smart security measures. If your company has physical data, backups are especially important to protect this information from threats like natural disasters or building fires.
Backing data up offsite not only gives peace of mind but is a cybersecurity best practice for keeping sensitive data safe and secure. Cloud backup services and databases are an ideal solution because they store all data on a remote server and provide data recovery capabilities. These services also often have end-to-end encryption for added security to ensure that data is protected as it moves from your company to the cloud database.
“Be sure to test your recovery operations at least annually, and ensure that you’re able to recover backed-up data in a disaster scenario,” Scovetta says.
4. Maintain and test an incident response plan
Even when organizations maintain cybersecurity best practices, this doesn’t mean that a company is never at risk for a threat. It only takes one security breach to cause serious damage to a company’s reputation and finances. Companies should be proactive about creating, maintaining, and following an Incident Response Plan in the event of a cyberattack.
This plan outlines the steps a company needs to take to minimize the damage caused by the threat, recover data, and make changes to policies to help avoid future attacks. Along with creating an Incident Response Plan, it may also be helpful to create plans for specific types of threats, such as phishing attacks, and to have communication plans in place for employees, customers, and partners.
5. Comply with all laws and regulations
Companies are required by law to follow all privacy and compliance regulations. These regulations exist to provide additional security for sensitive data, such as GDPR, FERPA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GLBA. Non-compliance endangers not only the sensitive information of a company and its employees, but its customers as well, and can result in financial penalties, or worse.
Ask questions about where your sensitive data is being stored – location – private or public cloud – and the credentials of the data centers that your data resides in.
To follow cybersecurity best practices, it’s important to know which compliance regulations are relevant to your company and to make sure your company remains up-to-date with any changes to these regulations. Conducting regular compliance risk assessments also alongside cybersecurity risk assessments to stay informed about your company data, and regulation requirements, and to ensure these regulations are met.
Your Data, Our Priority: Seriously Secure Forms
At FormAssembly, we understand the importance of keeping your data safe. That’s why we take a multi-layered approach to security, ensuring your information is protected from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse.
Safeguarding your data:
- Secure, Redundant Data Centers: We store your data in geographically dispersed data centers featuring advanced security measures to ensure redundancy and protection.
- Disaster Recovery: We have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place to ensure business continuity and minimize disruption in case of unforeseen events.
- Industry-Leading Compliance: We maintain compliance with industry-leading data security standards, including HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS. These certifications demonstrate our commitment to safeguarding sensitive information.
Additional security measures:
- Intrusion Detection: We employ advanced intrusion detection systems to identify and prevent security threats in real time.
- Employee Security: Our staff undergoes regular security awareness training to ensure they understand best practices for protecting your data.
Learn more:
For a complete overview of our security framework, please visit our security page.
Don’t get left behind
Cybersecurity threats are just the tip of the iceberg. Evolving regulations, customer privacy demands, and the ever-changing data landscape present a complex challenge for organizations. But there’s a solution: becoming a data steward.
Download our whitepaper, “Understanding the Importance of Data Stewardship: How to Effectively Manage and Secure Customer Data,” and discover how a data stewardship mindset can empower your organization to:
- Stay compliant with evolving regulations.
- Build trust with your customers by prioritizing data security and privacy.
- Gain a competitive edge by effectively managing valuable data assets.
