This blog is published by Suresh Kanniappan

Technology is not only expanding but it is doing so at a breathtaking pace. If a report by technology giant Intel is to be believed, we are likely to witness over 200 billion interconnected devices come year 2020. Breaking down the statistics for a better perspective, this implies 26 smart objects for every human being on Earth.

The more interconnected world we live in, the more is the reliance on software. As a result any security breach anywhere can result into a problem with catastrophic proportions. A case in point is the recent ransomware attack named ‘WannaCry’ that disrupted computers in more than 150 countries. Just by leveraging vulnerability in Windows OS, the ransomware scaled to massive proportions. Technically being a malware threat blocking infected victim’s access to his own files, Wannacry has underlined the significance of cyber security and cyber analytics to avoid such attacks in the future.

Ransomware attacks initialing steps towards a global cyber security watchdog

While the rising cyber attacks have made a severe financial impact along with data theft possibilities, it has also brought back the focus on cyber risk analytics and cyber security in a big way. The launch of Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) which aims to bring together all stakeholders while proposing norms for cyber security is a case in point. Formation of GCSC is considered by cyber experts to be a big breakthrough in cyber analytics and security post the 2014 launch of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG).

Reasons why 2017 can be a game changer in cyber security

The year 2017 is likely to be a game changer in terms of cyber security analytics and security upgrades. The recent cyber attacks could well act as a catalyst where cyber security and cyber analytics are increasingly taken seriously by enterprises and government institutions and networks across the globe.

Increasing awareness on cyber security by decoding multiple threats

Many enterprises in the past have been guilty of ignoring cyber security. Either they did not have a budget for security or did not care enough for cyber analytics solutions. The rising threat perception today has meant that an enterprise no matter how big or small today is embracing cyber security.

Enterprises have understood that cyber security is not just a fight against threat actors but have divided threats against all possibilities. For example enterprises have a different cyber analytics program to look for threats by cyber criminals, hackers, hacktivists or even by unfriendly nation states launching cyber attacks.

Cloud utilization and agile development

As enterprises adopt a more agile development philosophy moving to DevOps and cloud computation implementation, they are able to analyze and look at threat perceptions much faster. The number of events per second (EPS) scanned by security teams of enterprises with a DevOps model for example are offering security analysts deeper insight into possible threat perceptions. The use of cloud computation is helping cyber security experts to chalk a strategy for monitoring, auditing, and investigating cyber security breaches at a faster rate.

Use of data analytics across various devices

Increasing forecast of Internet of Things (IoT) has meant that enterprises across various industries are investing in IoT applications. The rise in the number of sensors, devices, gateways, and networks means a higher volume of data is generated and collected by enterprises. This big data is being used by cyber security analysts to help them have a larger sample size to devise proactive security checks and yardsticks for each industry as per the varied threat perceptions.

Growing digital transformation

Growing digital transformation is making networks more secure while enterprises change the way they run their businesses. For example transitions from IPv4 to IPv6 or to secure encrypted cellular networks are increasing the safety quotient of enterprises. The use of technology across all vertices including manufacturing and automation means businesses are able to track all aspects closely. Eventually the data is screened by cyber threat analytics to chalk out cyber security strategy to safeguard against any threats.

Increased hiring of skilled cyber security experts

Rising threat perception has meant that enterprises are hiring skilled cyber security experts like never before. Even those enterprises having traditional cyber analytics are looking for new age technology that covers all aspects based on cloud, mobile, IoT to ensure all round protection. Skilled security experts capable of handling big data and Cyber Risk Protection Platform are today working in tandem with corporations bringing a welcome change for cyber security industry as a whole.

Conclusion: The focus is truly shifting on cyber analytics as 2017 braces to be a game changing year for the cyber security industry.

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