Chris Parker, Director of Government Strategy at Fortinet, explores Artificial Intelligence, quantum technologies, and cyber awareness – the three biggest cyber security challenges.
Cyber security challenges are becoming ever more advanced, and organisations are struggling to keep up.
A recent study by Fortinet has found that whilst 78% of organisations feel prepared for potential cyber attacks, half actually fell victim in the past year – indicating a worrying level of false confidence.
With the risk of reputational damage and significant fines making the cost of a breach greater than ever, it’s imperative that organisations get emerging threats on their radar.
Here are the three major cyber security challenges that are set define the next decade:
Automated threats demand an automated response
Artificial Intelligence (AI) threats are becoming more and more prevalent, enabling cyber criminals to administer advanced attacks on scale. Ultimately, automated threats need to be matched by an equally advanced and powerful solution.
AI is essential in speeding up an organisation’s response time to a breach. Attacks that would have previously been conducted over days and weeks, can now be identified within 80 minutes of taking place. This is vital if organisations are to effectively limit the extent of an attack and keep their data safe.
AI is soon becoming the building blocks of cyber security due to its power for threat mitigation. Whilst it is a powerful tool, it also needs human integration to ensure it is being adjusted to provide the right level of defence.
Just like any other automated machine, it is important that a human is available and alerted appropriately to make a judgement call.
Quantum is becoming a reality
Quantum computing technology is right around the corner and with each day that passes, we are moving closer to it becoming a reality. However, there is significant concern that quantum will become a major cyber security challenge, rendering current cyber defences useless, empowering hackers, and ultimately leaving data at risk.
One of the biggest concerns is the prospect of ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ – where hackers are stealing data, with the intention of storing it and decrypting later, once they have access to quantum technologies. This could prove an immense issue in a few years’ time, particularly if attackers gain access to highly sensitive information.
This threat means that security teams in high-risk sectors need to be taking affirmative action now, to ensure they are keeping their systems as secure as possible from intrusion and identifying threats as quickly as possible. This requires a layered and cohesive approach to cyber security.
It is essential to ensure interoperability and co-ordination between individual security products, resulting in a more integrated security policy.
Mind the cyber skills gap
The lack of cyber awareness across organisations is also one of the biggest cyber security challenges. It is an ever-present issue that plagues the industry and, if left unaddressed, preventable attacks will continue to take place.
Fortinet’s annual Skills Gap Report found that a lack of cyber security skills has been linked to an increase in breaches and there is an urgent need to invest in training. The lack of cyber security awareness from employees puts businesses at risk, creating an easy avenue for criminals to exploit.
Ultimately, you are only as strong as your weakest link, and it is imperative that security professionals secure buy in from across their organisation. Research found that 90% of business leaders believe that if there was an increased training and awareness of cyber security, this would help to decrease attacks.
This emphasises that current training is not effective enough. Businesses must be proactive if they want to ensure that their employees have sufficient knowledge and understanding of how to limit the risk of becoming victim to a cyber attack.
Overcoming cyber security challenges
Ultimately, the need to face these three cyber security challenges will intensify over the coming years and it is imperative that we put plans in place to overcome them now.
Organisations need to stay on top of and be aware of the trends amongst cyber criminals in order to use the best methods of defence.
Investment in training and reskilling programmes for current and new talent is now essential to ensure organisations remain alert to evolving threats – hackers are always adapting which means defences must be agile too.
While no organisation can ever be truly secure, now is not the time for complacency. Challenges are abundant in a particularly hostile cyber threat landscape. The good news is that there are experts to talk to about the optimal cyber security using next generation technology.
By consolidating your investment in the right people, both internally and externally, and their teams, business leaders can at least hope to keep the hackers at bay.
