A massive spread of remote work and a drastic increase in cloud applications: The year 2020 gave the digital transformation a real boost. These changes also have a significant impact on IT security. Cybersecurity specialist Forcepoint explains five key developments that will shape IT security over the next year and beyond.
1. IT Security is Becoming More and More Like Zoom
As users have experienced, video conferencing is very simple with Zoom – although it is a very complex, global application in the cloud. IT security will have to be oriented towards this because more and more employees are accessing cloud applications outside the company networks. The classic IT security architectures of companies are not prepared for this.
Therefore, with SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), a completely new network and security architecture will prevail. It provides network and security functions in a convergent, cloud-based platform – and “zooms in” IT security. With such a platform, anyone can use cloud applications safely and efficiently regardless of their location.
2. IT Security is Based on the Handling of Data
Moving to the home office has brought a considerable boost to creativity. To maintain their productivity even under particular conditions, many employees have found inventive solutions – but they create potential security risks. Therefore, companies will increasingly implement IT security measures based on human behaviour and the handling of relevant data – and not just on systems. They enable comprehensive IT security without restricting employee productivity.
3. AI Algorithms Need to be Put to the Test
Given the growing amounts of data, IT security can no longer do without machine learning. IT security solutions are increasingly making automated decisions based on AI algorithms. It is even more critical in the security environment than in many other areas that these decisions are made impartially, legally and ethically.
However, since many algorithms represent a black box, they are very difficult or even impossible to verify. Machine learning and data analytics must, therefore, be subjected to closer scrutiny and discussed in society.
4. 2021 will Reveal Numerous Data Losses
The unplanned mass work in the home office has pushed companies’ classic data security systems to their limits. In the coming year, many of them will find out how much data they have lost as a result. 2021 will be the year in which you ensure that your information is protected everywhere and your employees can work securely regardless of location. The new remote world will remain, so companies have to assign completely new importance to data security issues and data transparency.
5. Danger from “Insider as a Service” is Growing
In the new world of work, where employees only meet virtually and hardly ever enter the company building, internal perpetrators pose an exceptionally high risk – because there are no physical controls. This also favours a particularly perfidious variant of cybercrime that enjoys increasing “popularity”: “Insider as a Service”. can booked criminals on the dark web, who can then be hired by companies to steal data and valuable intellectual property for their clients. To protect themselves against internal criminals of all kinds, companies will increasingly rely on behaviour-based IT security.
“2020 was a year of profound upheavals and changes. The digital change has accelerated considerably, and we humans worldwide have adapted our everyday behaviour to the new normal. “It is now up to our industry to react to these new risks and to ensure that companies can comprehensively protect their sensitive data and intellectual property even under the new conditions.”
Also Read: 7 Cyber Security Threats Every Small Business Owner Should Know
