Tracking Cybersecurity Trends: What Will the Next Decade Bring?

Cybersecurity is dynamic, with cybercriminals constantly pursuing new ways to breach networks for gain. In turn, cyber professionals are continually evolving their defenses. Some would call this a cybersecurity war, and the good guys don’t always win. The daily headlines of incidents and attacks illustrate this accurately. As a result, it’s a very future-forward discipline, which means cybersecurity trends are part of the conversation.

So, what’s next for cybersecurity? Here are some trends worth the attention of the industry.

Organizations Will Shift to Cyber Resilience and Recovery

Most cyber strategies have fundamental roots in being on the defensive. Companies have been attempting this more proactively. However, the nature of an organization as the victim and the hacker as the attacker is a dynamic no one can change.

What the future may hold in this area is businesses taking on the philosophy to be cyber resilient and able to recover from the inevitability of an attack. It’s not that companies will let down their guard. The real shift is from the mindset of believing you can’t be a target because of your robust defenses to accepting it’s a risk that’s part of doing business. It will involve more threat management to refine priorities and build more responsive ecosystems.

Online Trust Will Continue to Decay

For the individual user, distrust in the online world is growing. The volume of disinformation is staggering and hard to combat. Making things worse are advanced technologies like AI and machine learning. Generative AI specifically can be a disinformation machine.

This eroding trust has implications for cybersecurity in your organization. Couple this with sophisticated hackers using AI and machine learning, and companies will have a lot to manage. It could change the course of cybersecurity awareness and education. Still, it will be challenging to shift these perspectives, which means human fault will continue to be the leading cause of cyberattacks.

Operational Simplicity Will Become a Priority

Many organizations have highly complex operational frameworks for cybersecurity. An IBM report found that businesses use more than?45 different security tools. Additionally, other cyber exercises are involved in operations, like vulnerability assessments and pen tests. It makes for an overly complicated landscape, which could create more risk.

The cybersecurity trend that would counter this is cybersecurity platform consolidation and working with a single partner for third-party assessments and tests. Fewer vendors mean greater efficiency, more integration, enhanced visibility, and lower costs.

The Relationship Between People, Processes, and Technology Will Become More Balanced

You need all these things for effective cybersecurity. However, there’s a current imbalance in many enterprises. Typically, the human element is the one that needs more engagement. Cyber professionals must evolve as the environment does. That can be hard for technical folks for many reasons. They like certainty and always knowing the answer to the question. Those questions are only going to get more complex.

Thus, this is the time to invest in your people to ensure harmony in the trifecta of people, processes, and technology. You can do this by:

• Prioritizing user experience in the realm of controls rather than just looking at things from a purely tech perspective
• Being more people-centric in the management of these very valuable assets, which means developing employees’ soft skills and cultivating a culture of communication, collaboration, and cooperation
• Rethinking how you recruit and hire to focus on technical and soft skills rather than having a narrow view of qualifications

Zero Trust Architecture Could Replace VPNs

VPNs (virtual private networks) became a standard for companies with remote workers but weren’t a hot topic until the pandemic. Three years later, remote work is now permanent, with VPNs still in use. VPNs, however, aren’t impenetrable and sometimes present more risk.

Zero trust architecture could take its place. It eliminates implicit trust and requires continuous authentication by users. It lives by the “never trust, always verify” mantra. Zero trust reduces the attack surface and is the most effective approach to cloud security. Adopting it also expands visibility and makes processes easier for your cyber team.

The Future Cyber Workforce Will Have New and Unique Skill Sets

The cybersecurity industry has a recruitment and retention problem. By 2025, there will be?3.5 million unfilled roles. Organizations are struggling with recruitment and retention. To overcome this gap, companies will have to reassess their strategies. Looking for talent doesn’t have to be so limited. Many people could have great potential but are overlooked because they don’t have a degree or certification. The answer is to shift to skills-based hiring and aptitude. The best cyber professionals may have unique backgrounds and solid soft skills. They can quickly learn the technical side of things.

These trends in cybersecurity mark some important shifts in strategy, philosophy, and mindsets. They’ll be necessary to be on the right side of the cyber war.