Cybersecurity is something we tend to look at in the light of massive amounts of news we see daily. Innovative hacking techniques, big security breaches, millions of compromised accounts, ransomware attacks. These are the information we’re fed with and it shouldn’t be surprising that we tend to get confused. We distract our attention and overestimate every single threat, while we should be focused on the bigger picture. We need to be aware of what’s new, that’s a fact. But still, if we take a step back, we can see, that there’s no real game-changer. In a long-term, we’re still in the same spot, incapable of fully defending or hiding. Therefore cybersecurity trends and predictions should be read with a high amount of common sense.
How do we deal with cybercrime then?
If there’s nowhere to hide there are two options and that’s a basic law of nature, seen in every ecosystem. You can either fight or develop a trait that makes you look unattractive in the eyes of a predator. We recommend both. Assess your value and test how well does your defence systems work. It’s inviable to attack you? Good, but it’s still a long away from safety. Be prepared for a successful breach, by working on procedures that mitigate the risk of your company collapsing.
For example, start from automatic data encryption that begins as soon as an adversary is detected inside your systems. Create a backup copy of your critical data. To ensure the system works properly invest in continuous network monitoring and be ready for a quick reaction. Stages like that build up a thorough security strategy that is constantly developed. While it doesn’t guarantee your systems impenetrability it’s job is to keep your business safe and functioning no matter what.
Safety and cyber resilience are achieved by consistent, repetitive activities. They’re based on following a deep strategic roadmap and the best case scenario involves putting your security team in a workflow that allows minor shifts or focusing on a couple of things at once. Following the roadmap should always be one of them. Successful adaption of agile methodologies can really augment your security processes allowing to quickly respond to novelties.
Cybersecurity trends for 2019
Now that we know the bread and butter of proper security functioning in 2019, we can take a more detailed look at possible events we might be expecting in the future. It won’t be much different than it was in 2018, as certain things have their origins back then.
- We’ve seen data leaks from misconfigured cloud environments and due to a higher rate of migrating to the cloud, we can expect this trend to grow. Cloud platforms will also be a tool in sophisticated phishing campaigns.
- With GDPR entering into force and connecting it with massive security breaches (there will be just more of them) we can expect multiple big lawsuits.
- Higher investment in security automation will ensure higher coverage of security assurance in Agile environments. Security specialists shortages will result in wide propagation of security culture. Methodologies such as DevSecOps will surely gain popularity.
- Due to many high-profile adversarial attacks, we should expect cyber awareness to grow. Customers will rely on vendors who have proven to have a functional security culture.
- More countries will realize the need to seriously invest in cybersecurity structures of the public sector. It will be deeply connected with critical infrastructures, such as hospitals or energy network.