Top 10 Predictions: Evolution of Cybersecurity in 2015

Cybersecurity is poised for a notorious year. The next 12 to 18 months will see greater, bolder, and more complex attacks emerge. This year’s installment for the top computer security predictions highlights how the threats are advancing, outpacing defenders, and the landscape is becoming more professional and organized. Although the view of our cybersecurity future is obscured, one thing is for certain: We’re in for an exciting ride.

In this blog I’ll discuss my top 10 predictions for Cybersecurity in 2015.

Top Predictions:

1. Cyber warfare becomes legitimate

2. Active government intervention

Governments will be more actively involved in responding to major hacking events affecting their citizens. Expect government response and reprisals to foreign nation-state attacks, which ordinary business enterprises are not in a position to act or counter. This is a shift in policy, both timely and necessary to protect how the public enjoys life under the protection of a common defense.

3. Security talent in demand

The demand for security professionals is at an all-time high, but the workforce pool is largely barren of qualified candidates. The best talent has been scooped up. A lack of security workforce talent, especially in leadership roles, is a severe impediment to organizations in desperate need of building and staffing in-house teams. We will see many top-level security professionals jump between organizations, lured by better compensation packages. Academia will struggle to refill the talent supply in order to meet the demand.

4. High profile attacks continue

High-profile targets will continue to be victimized. As long as the return is high for attackers while the effort remains reasonable, they will continue to target prominent organizations. Nobody, regardless of how large, is immune. Expect high-profile companies, industries, government organizations, and people to fall victim to theft, hijacking, forgery, and impersonation.

5. Attacks get personal

We will witness an expansion in strategies in the next year, with attackers acting in ways that put individuals directly at risk. High profile individuals will be threatened with embarrassment, exposing sensitive healthcare, photos, online activities, and communication data. Everyday citizens will be targeted with malware on their devices to siphon bank information, steal crypto-currency, and to hold their data for ransom. For many people this year, it will feel like they are being specifically targeted for abuse.

6. Enterprise risk perspectives change

Enterprises will overhaul how they view risks. Serious board-level discussions will be commonplace, with a focus on awareness and responsibility. More attention will be paid to the security of products and services, with the protection of privacy and customer data beginning to supersede “system availability” priorities. Enterprise leaders will adapt their perspectives to focus more attention on security as a critical aspect of sustainable business practices.

7. Security competency and attacker innovation increase

The security and attacker communities will make significant strides forward this year. Attackers will continue to maintain the initiative and succeed with many different types of attacks against large targets. Cybercrime will grow quickly in 2015, outpacing defenses and spurring smarter security practices across the community. Security industry innovation will advance as the next wave of investments emerge and begin to gain traction in protecting data centers, clouds, and the ability to identify attackers.

8. Malware increases and evolves

Malware numbers will continue to skyrocket, increase in complexity, and expand more heavily beyond traditional PC devices. Malicious software will continue to swell at a relentless pace, averaging over 50 percent year-over-year growth. The rapid proliferation and rising complexity of malware will create significant problems for the security industry. The misuse of stolen certificates will compound the problems, and the success of ransomware will only reinforce more development by criminals.

9. Attacks follow technology growth

Attackers move into new opportunities as technology broadens to include more users, devices, data, and evolving supporting infrastructures. As expansion occurs, there is a normal lag for the development and inclusion of security. This creates a window of opportunity. Where the value of data, systems, and services increases, threats surely follow. Online services, phones, the IoT, and cryptocurrency are being heavily targeted.

10. Cybersecurity attacks evolve into something ugly

Cybersecurity is constantly changing and the attacks we see today will be superseded by more serious incursions in the future. We will witness the next big step in 2015, with attacks expanding from denial-of-service and data theft activities to include more sophisticated campaigns of monitoring and manipulation. The ability to maliciously alter transactions from the inside is highly coveted by attackers.

Welcome to the next evolution of security headaches.

I predict 2015 to be an extraordinary year in cybersecurity. Attackers will seek great profit and power, while defenders will strive for stability and confidence. In the middle will be a vicious knife fight between aggressors and security professionals. Overall, the world will take security more seriously and begin to act in more strategic ways. The intentional and deliberate protection of our digital assets, reputation, and capabilities will become a regular part of life and business.

If you’d like to check out my video series surrounding my predictions, you can find more here.

Twitter: @Matt_Rosenquist

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