Understanding the Increase in Cybersecurity Risks and How To Protect AV Networks

Digital transformations are taking industries by storm within the United States. This is no different for the AV industry which relies heavily on digital and network connectivity to support advancing technologies. Mark Lynd, Head of Digital Business at NETSYNC spoke with Pro AV podcast host Ben Thomas about cybersecurity challenges faced by the private and public sectors alike.

“From the corporate or public sector/private sector world, you’re seeing a digital transformation. Every business out there is looking for some way to become digital, right? So, you have that happening. At the same time, you have new generations of kids and all that who are growing up in the digital world, and it’s their first choice for news, how to get to places. All the things that used to be non-digital are now digital,” explained Lynd.

As the digital world expands in the US and elsewhere, so will the number of bad actors, and the cyberattacks will increase.

“These are very sophisticated, organized groups, gangs – however, you want to designate them, but many of them are state-sponsored. There are lots of states out there both ones that you would suspect and ones that you wouldn’t that are using that to bring money in and help pay for government programs that may or may not be sanctioned or approved by the international community,” stated Lynd.

Lynd used the example of the K12 educational system to illustrate how no one is safe. He spoke to the idea that most people would think K12 schools would be off-limits since any attacks would hurt children. “That is not the case at all. Since 2018, over 1260 K12s in the United States have been hit with ransomware or other types of attacks… and it’s growing every year,” said Lynd.

Understanding the significant security risks that come with our ever-increasingly digital world helps others understand and implement best practices for protecting network connectivity in the AV industry.