Security is an important issue for businesses to address because it impacts their ability to operate in a certain market. The lack of security can lead to a decrease in profitability and loss of customers, as well as an increase in risk for employees.

As the world increasingly becomes more volatile and dangerous, the global security situation continues to change drastically in the last few years, with many new threats arising from different parts of the world. Organizations should begin and maintain a constant and comprehensive risk assessment in their security systems to be able to identify and address potential risks and vulnerabilities. Mitigating these issues can be facilitated through appropriate security policies, procedures, and controls.

5 Trends to Look Out For in the Cybersecurity Industry

Although very concentrated, the global security market currently reports a revenue stream of approximately 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 with a total worth of 132 billion U.S. dollars. Although it suffered major losses during the coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity services is still considered to be one of the largest industries in the world. Asia currently shares the largest section of the market followed by Europe, and North America.

The industry continue to grow alongside the rise in terrorist activities, increasing cyber-attacks, and growing demand for physical security solutions across the globe.

There are various trends that are shaping this market today and will continue to do so in the future as well. These include:

Cybersecurity Risks in Remote and Hybrid Work Settings

With most organizations with workforces working remotely, the threats of cybersecurity at home increases. With home offices less protected compared to centralized offices, IT services and cybersecurity teams will have to adapt to tactics that are more rigorous than usual. They have to develop ways to eliminate or diminish the increased risk of confidential information getting in the wrong hands.

This year as most organizations choose to continue working remotely, IT teams will be more focused on addressing the challenges in security in distributed workforces. New improved systems, more security controls, proper monitoring and documentation will be the areas that they will invest in to offer a more secure work from home setup for employees.

The Rise of Ransomware

Although ransomware is not a new threat, it is continuously growing and may cause a disruption on the flow of work in organizations. After being around for two decades, there are now over 120 separate types of families of ransomware being used by hackers in hiding malicious codes in websites.

Ransomware is usually involved in  extortion attacks. It is usually used to steal company data, locking out users from its access, requiring monetary gain from companies by demanding ransom. This cyberthreat has a very significant effect for companies that are forced to pay for ransom.

With such types of attacks being more sophisticated, more organizations are investing in robust cybersecurity systems. Meanwhile, such hackers will continue to evolve, which is a continuous challenge and threat for cybersecurity teams and professionals.

Data Privacy Turning Into a Discipline

Data privacy will soon emerge as a discipline in its own right. Stricter data laws worldwide will be observed as data privacy will be increasingly prioritized by organizations, even the government, to be able to avoid high-profile cyber-attacks that usually leads to the exposure of millions of personally identifiable information records.

Organizations will be pressured to comply with these regulations to protect not only their companies but first and foremost their consumers. Failing to do so will lose consumer trust and can be bad publicity for such organizations.

With these, organizations will divert their focus on recruiting reliable and expert data privacy officers to be able to deliver secure data encryptions, both in transit and at rest, alongside many other identifiable areas in IT and cybersecurity that require improvement.

Continuous Rise of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has been making headlines for years now. It has been used in many different fields of work, from predicting the stock market to being an integral part in organizations and companies. The advancements will be so rapid that it will take years for us to understand the full implications of what’s happening.

The continuous rise of artificial intelligence is not just a trend. It is an inevitable change that will happen in our future, and it will have a huge impact on our society, economy and politics.

AI can be used to find new solutions for old problems or create new problems that are never before seen. AI can also be used as a weapon, in a military sense or even in terms of manipulating people through fake news. 

Such a trend will require more robust and equipped professionals to work alongside these technologies  while monitoring processes that can be a target of automated attacks, model-stealing, and data poisoning.

Mobile Cybersecurity as a Priority

Working remotely is not limited to computers alone. It has triggered an acceleration in the growth in use of mobile devices for work.  As a result, tablets and mobile phones are being targeted by online threats too. 5G technology rollout also poses a threat to several security vulnerabilities.

Among the top mobile threats to watch out for includes spyware designed to encrypt messaging applications, security vulnerabilities within Android devices, and mobile malware used for DDoS attacks, SMS Spam, and Data Theft.

Security specialists should be able to combine mobile software security with hardware-based security solutions to be able to increase overall level of security for mobile devices used as collaboration tools for remote work.

The world is changing and so is the way we do business. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and organized. Cybercriminals are constantly on the prowl, looking to exploit security loopholes in order to access private and personal information. Establishing a robust cybersecurity needs to be a top priority for all organizations.  It is important to have a cybersecurity plan in place that can adapt and evolve with the changing landscape of cyberattacks.