Critical Topics for Cybersecurity Professionals

It is important and difficult to stay current with relevant issues in our industry. Cybersecurity is furiously changing, fast in its pace, and rising in global importance. Cybersecurity professionals must not only keep abreast of what is happening today, but also what is emerging on the horizon and heading our direction. Security becomes stronger when professionals collectively explore ideas and actively collaborate on developing better practices. As a cybersecurity strategist, my eyes are fixed on the future risks and opportunities. Here is my list of what we all must be learning, discussing, and deliberating about now, so we can be prepared for what lies ahead.

Integrity Attacks will Rise to be the Next Wave in Cyber

One constant in cybersecurity is the continual rise in sophistication and creativity of the threats. We are seeing the beginnings of a fundamental expansion to attacker’s techniques. Integrity compromises will rise and join the more familiar Confidentiality (ex. Data Breach) and Availability (ex. Denial-of-Service) attacks. Integrity attacks undermine the trust of transactions and communications. Ransomware, Business Email Scams, and financial transaction fraud, are all growing examples of integrity compromises. This third-wave will drive significantly greater impacts due to their nature, the lack of available security tools, and weak processes to manage the risks. We are already witnessing savvy attackers making hundreds of millions of dollars in a single campaign and will likely see a billion dollar heist by the end of the year. Everyone is at risk.

IoT Security: Where Digital Life-Safety and Privacy Issues meets Consumers

Our insatiable desire to integrate technology with our lives is changing the equation of security and safety. With the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices going from 15 billion to 200 billion by 2020 and the focus by attackers to get more access to critical capabilities, we may be unwittingly handing life-safety controls to the cyber threats. Such devices capture our conversations, video, health, activities, location, conversations, relationship connections, interests, and lifestyle. Will personal discretion and privacy survive?