‘What 2 things are most likely to change the security industry in the next 2 years? And why?’
Answering this question may seem a fairly simple task, but rest assured narrowing down to only two (and more importantly sticking to them) has proven a lot more challenging than it first seemed. Equally, the likelihood is that I will disagree with myself no sooner as this published, so I will add a small caveat and amend the question to the following;
Amongst a sea of likely events, and issues that face the security industry; pick two out and tell us why they deserve to be on this long list.
Regulatory landscape
It is remarkable to think that the introduction of the Computer Misuse Act was enacted because individuals that had gained access to the login details of 50,000 customers were tried and acquitted because at the time no legislation existed making it illegal to gain improper access to a computer. Times have certainly changed, and over the next few years there will be greater scrutiny, and likely penalties placed on organisations that fail to undertake appropriate due diligence in protecting data and critical key systems relating to critical infrastructure.
Of course the argument could be had that such requirements already exist, and whilst entirely true the next two years will see the introduction of more legislation with more onerous penalties. The net result should represent greater demand for a skilled workforce, and solutions to mitigate the risk of non-compliance. Equally with notification requirements for security as well as confidentiality breaches globally afoot it is likely that we will witness greater transparency.
A Connected future
If you have heard me present to an audience, you will know I love audience participation. One such example is to take a straw poll to understand the number of IP connected devices those in the audience have at home, for the record the most anyone has ever answered is 71 (you know who you are!). This trend will see further rapid adoption, and the number of IP enabled devices in the home for those outside the technology industry is likely to surpass what each of us have today. What’s more, those devices will be those that we did NOT make a conscious decision to buy, in other words by and large those IP enabled devices you have at home, you researched, purchased and plugged in. In the future we will witness a multitude of devices being connected, some of which were a customer’s conscious buying process (e.g. a TV) and others that are not (e.g. the smart meter).
This trend whilst exciting also represents massive security and privacy concerns for every single one of us, and the need for the security industry to ensure that we mitigate these risks has never been so important.
Do you want to understand more? Well can I plug the book I co-authored with Eric Knapp entitled “Applied Cyber Security and the Smart Grid”? Too late already done it…..
Raj Samani | McAfee | EMEA CTO | @Raj_Samani
To find out more about our panel members visit the biographies page.
