From an increased cybersecurity budget to the rise of AI, here are some emerging cybersecurity trends to look for in 2020.
Remember the 1990s?
It was the time when most networks and devices were relied on for antiviruses to stay protected from hacking, viruses, and malware.
Fast-forwarding to 2019, the world has changed a lot, so are cybercrimes. You can’t put your cybersecurity at the mercy of just antivirus. Relying on basic antivirus is just like facing Mike Tyson with your basic boxing skills. Cybercriminals are getting sophisticated enough to outwit your all dated cybersecurity measures.
Over the years, millions of networks and devices have been thwarted by the viruses like I LOVEYOU, Code Red, Storm Worm, Heartbleed and WannaCry.
To deal with the new viruses popping up, leading technology firms come up with cybersecurity trends. These trends are advanced security measures that are downright essential as cyber crimes have accounted for $2 trillion losses in 2019 alone. And this figure will be $6 trillion by 2021.
Don’t think that cybercrime won’t happen to your business if it hasn’t happened till now. Stay alert and go through these key cybersecurity trends for 2020.
Rise of Security Audits:
Security audits are some form of security assessment to determine the vulnerability and presence of threats in your network. No wonder many organizations have opted for this type of cybersecurity measures. Once the audit is done, the report is sent to the security officers or concerned party so they can make informed decisions. They are also responsible for promoting general cybersecurity awareness across the organization.
AI to Reshape Cybersecurity:
Cybercrimes are getting advanced, so are the tools to detect them.
New tools will be used to improve the detection of cyber threats like viruses and malicious content. AI can play a key role here.
Robo-hunter is a fine example of AI in threat detection and scans an organization’s environment for potential threats. They are automated threat detection tools and learn from what they discover, thereby taking remediation action. Some tools will automate the manual process of monitoring, analyzing threats and launching action.
Cybersecurity Budgets will Continue to Rise:
Cybersecurity has become the topmost business priority, thanks to the ever-increasing cybercrimes. That’s why many enterprises have stressed the creation of a separate budget for investing in security software, hardware, and services. Four times more budget has been reserved for cybersecurity in 2019, according to Forrester.
IDC has speculated that spending on security solutions could reach $103.1 billion by 2020 and will continue to increase for the years to come. According to a Cybersecurity Ventures forecast in 2017, IT security spending will exceed USD 1 trillion by 2021.
New Data Privacy Regulations:
To deal with cybersecurity crises, governments across the world are creating new policies to overlook the way enterprises handle and process their customer information. This information includes banking and credit card numbers, personal identifications and purchase history.
The EU has been a pioneer in this as it has brought the General Data Protection Regulations 2016 that was applied in 2018. The GDPR requires organizations to get consent from customers before collection or storing their data, and notify customers when their data has potentially been compromised.
The U.S. government is expected to introduce such data regulations, although some states like Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, and Washington have already created legislation in this context. The initiative from the state of California is welcoming as it has passed the California Consumer Privacy Act to monitor the way enterprises store and secure data.
Dealing with the Cybersecurity Talent Crisis:
The ever-increasing and advanced cyber-attack have made it important for organizations to bring top talent on the board.
However, the industry is facing talent crises as two in three enterprises have a shortage in their IT security staff.
There would be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions in the USA by 2021, according to one report. It goes without saying that organizations need to bridge that gap to deal with security concerns efficiently. It can be expected they will prepare a top strategy to hire and retain their IT security talent in 2020.
These are some cybersecurity trends to watch for in 2020. Some of them like using AI for security and increasing cybersecurity budgets can benefit your organization. You need to stay updated with cybersecurity measures to deal with new attacks. What do you think? Please drop your opinion by commenting below.
Ayman Totounji is the CEO of Cynexlink. Cynexlink is a Managed IT service provider company which helps small and mid-sized companies by delivering technology solutions like cybersecurity, Managed IT services and cloud computing.
As an IT expert, he loves to write and educate people about cybersecurity, cloud computing and other areas related to Information Technology.