The Future of Cybersecurity
With the number and scale of cyberattacks showing no signs of slowing down, and cybercriminals undoubtedly becoming more sophisticated, what is the future of cybersecurity?
We are entering into a continually connected world; for industry this means a lot of companies will see their attack surface growing, giving rise to more diverse routes through which an attacker can gain entry.
In the past, I.T. teams had servers within their own server rooms and data centres. Now the boundaries are much more blurred; with the use of a multitude of cloud services, the arrival of 5G, and the continued growth of the IOT market, we will be seeing billions of connected devices, meaning many more points of presence that could become a point of entry. So in a world with an ever-increasing footprint, it is becoming increasingly challenging for organisations to protect themselves.
What threats the future holds
The battle ultimately remains the same, protect your assets from the ‘bad guys’, whoever they may be. What we can see happening is that hackers, regardless of their motivation and skill level, will become even more sophisticated in their approaches, employing AI tools to automate and develop attack techniques. But with hacking tools simpler to produce there is an increasing risk that even unskilled hackers will be able to utilise “off the shelf” methods, simply adding a basic configuration and firing off an attack.
5G will present new risks and challenges; more connected devices will potentially pose a threat to networks. Organisations will have to change or restructure their cybersecurity strategies accordingly.
Another area of particular concern is Internet of Things (IOT) devices that continue to flood the market without adequate security measures, and in the future, as more and more aspects of our lives become connected, it means more diverse points of entry for hackers.
The key players in the future of cybersecurity
Security teams will need to find new ways of working as hybrid teams with Machine Learning and AI acting as colleagues in the battle.
The level at which we fight the battle will also change, not just attacking the software but aiming more effectively at the underlying hardware. Why attack the software when you can get the silicon to behave as you want it to?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is highly likely to become a key player in securing devices and systems in the increasingly connected world. In fact, a study from the Capgemini Research Institute found that 69% of businesses believe AI will be necessary to respond to cyberattacks.
Existing security measures do not have the capabilities to keep up with the evolving security threats and as the breadth and speed of these attacks increases, relying solely on human detection starts to become a risk in itself. Automated systems that can monitor, detect, manage, and prevent cyberattacks in real time will be needed to drive cybersecurity forward.
Another key player is likely to be Quantum Computing, which has the potential to revolutionise the cyber security industry as quantum computers are more powerful than current computer systems. The power at their disposal could remake fields including science, medicine and financial services, among others.
From a cybersecurity perspective, quantum computing may represent both an important opportunity and a threat. For example, it is expected that modern encryption techniques will soon be undermined by quantum computing. In response, quantum-safe encryption algorithms are already being developed by companies including Google and Microsoft. Without these algorithms, cryptography and security, all information that is transmitted on public channels now, or in the future, would be vulnerable to attack or theft.
Education is still vitally important, and teaching people to recognise the “out of the norm behaviour” will continue be a key tool in the lines of defence.
We’re entering a phase where cyber security needs to protect not just end-to-end but also top to bottom to ensure that environments are protected and can offer defence that provides clear visibility, understanding and traceability of what is going on through every component and step of a user’s interaction with an environment.
Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone within the organisation needs to know their role in protecting the company’s data, this will only become more important as cybercrime continues to evolve.
To find out how Claritas can help protect your organisation from cyberattacks, please visit our website www.claritas-solutions.com or email contact@claritas-solutions.com.
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