Security Outlook for 2017 And Beyond

The security landscape has been undergoing a dramatic change as the complexities arising out of emerging threats have become more alarming than ever. 2016 was characterized by organizations recognizing the need to monitor and defend their digital environments differently, but many continued to center their security programs on the same technologies and approaches they had been using – hoping for a different outcome, but not acting differently.

As much as the integration of the physical world with the digital one has made things simpler, the fact remains that organizations, companies, and individuals are exposed to a number of unknown security threats.

As we step into 2017, RSA highlights some of the top trends that are likely to emerge this year:

1.       Call for increased transparency

Disclosure of cyber breaches can strengthen and unify the fight against organized crime and decrease the chances of multiple organizations falling prey to attackers using similar techniques. Demand for mandatory disclosure will gain traction and bring the industry together in their fight against cybercrime. 

2.       Adoption of business driven security model

We will witness increase in adoption of the business driven security model. Businesses will demand that they achieve end-to-end security while also being able to link their security strategy to a business goals to drive innovation and reduce costs. Additionally, this will be the path toward supporting operational requirements needed to address compliance, protection against internal and external threats, and prioritizing security risk management activities.

3.       Increased spend on security measures

Data breaches are becoming more prevalent and global averages show that the cost of data breach is constantly on the rise[1]. Organizations will need to reexamine their security programs once they learn that preventing advanced threats from occurring is not possible. We expect to see a shake-out in the security industry as organizations’ understanding of advanced threats drives their security investment decisions.

4.       IoT will emerge as a new target

As per a Gartner report, the number of connected devices in the APAC region will rise from 6.5 billion in 2015 to almost 21 billion by 2020[2]. This represents a valuable opportunity for hackers to target more IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Security experts believe that there may be millions of infected IoT devices already in the wild due, as evidenced by recent DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks conducted through IoT botnets like Mirai.

5.       Increased attacks on cloud and application service providers

Though cloud providers are developing more layers of security, cyber attackers will continue to take advantage of sensitive applications and data that reside in the cloud. The aggregation of this valuable data from many companies creates an incredibly lucrative target for cybercriminals and cyber espionage. This is not an issue that will go away this year unless a deeper appreciation of third party risk is gained.

6.       Increased attack surface for hackers 

Initiatives such as Smart Cities, Digital India, and demonetization have already attracted the world’s attention. With more people demanding for and relying on online technologies, we can expect the surface area for attackers to target to increase. It also emerges as a great avenue for cyber criminals to exploit new adopters of this transition who may be unaware of how to protect themselves. Organizations will need to have a pervasive and dynamic approach towards their cyber security strategies because of this evolving threat scenario.

With an evolving threat landscape, focus on prioritizing cyber security policies and solutions has become prominent.  As data breach incidents are on the rise, continuous monitoring, early detection and quick action is the key to information security especially with digital India and demonetization compelling masses to adopt technologies for online monetary transactions.  India is at the crux of digital economy and it’s probably the best time to relook at the security policies and cyber laws now to make the dream come true.