It's time to discuss the various trends forecast to shape cybersecurity in the next 365 days. Tech developments like generative AI and security automation have been cooking up a storm this year and are expected to make a significant impact for a long time to come. Let's take a closer look at what 2024 has in store for cybersecurity.
According to Gartner, every dollar spent on IT will have an AI component. Cybersecurity budgets are increasing as well. With the development of smart security solutions and the real possibility of an autonomous SOC in the future, AI is expected to play a huge part in securing an organization's network.
Enhancements to existing functions through AI include automatically finding outliers by examining user behavior, predicting potential cyberthreats and the ability to defend against an attack with less human intervention. SOC managers will rely more on AI-powered solutions to prevent, detect, and eliminate internal and external threats without constant analyst inputs.
Nation-state threats loom large in 2024. Israel's cyber dome and Ukraine's IT army are a clear indication of the rising threat of nation-state attacks and the onset of stringent government cybersecurity policies. As wars and nation-state riffs continue to happen in various parts of the world, cyberattacks have become the new nukes.
Nation-state threat actors, unlike other attackers, operate with the intention of sabotaging another nation-state during a war or standoff. They might be enlisted by the government and pose more danger than bad actors who operate on the wrong side of the law. Governments can address these threats using an effective cybersecurity policy that ensures continuous risk assessment and robust incident response plans to prevent these attacks. SOC managers of enterprises located in at-risk nations need to be mindful of complying with these measures, and address areas of risk.
Similar to environmental sustainability, cybersecurity decisions also need to be sustainable. Many CISO's compensation packages depend on how sustainable their cybersecurity decisions are. This evaluation and subsequent determination must ensure that the organization's data and network are safeguarded without burning out resources or people. In this way, it has a positive economic impact for the business, while not ignoring the environmental and social impact. There must be an emphasis on long-term solutions that are cost-, time-, and resource-effective while considering possible security software investments. Security vendors will also have to consider sustainable security outcomes while designing and selling their products in the new age marketplace. Vendors that offer solutions designed to enrich analyst experience and use automation to eliminate repetitive tasks will be popular with security managers.
The migration to the cloud is at its peak. Generative AI, also known as Gen AI, could lead to substantial security enhancements and developments in native cloud platforms. AI could be used to ingest and analyze data faster and in real time, which would lead to faster anomaly modeling and detection in cloud security management tools. While some companies could use Gen AI to enhance visibility into cloud platforms, some will use it to enhance the CI/CD pipeline. This will lead to faster and more effective integration, incident response, and a safer, dependable cloud environment.
Cybersecurity vendors that adopted the platform approach are preferred over others. Organizations will prioritize software that offers easy integrations to other security applications, AI- and ML-based learning algorithms, as well as profitable solutions that operate intuitively for multiple users across various departments. SIEM solutions that easily integrate with IDS, IPS systems, ticketing tools, threat intelligence platforms, and come with in built CASB and SOAR capabilities will be deemed the superior choice in the market. ManageEngine's SIEM offering, Log360, adopts the platform approach and combines several modules in one console, and is also available as a SaaS product called Log360 Cloud.
The core principle behind the Zero Trust security model is, "Never trust, always verify." As security systems become more AI-friendly, authentication mechanisms have evolved. Risk-based and policy-based authentication, and adaptive MFA are good examples of this. The future of Zero Trust involves smart mechanisms and lies in real-time authentication and monitoring enabled by AI. It will eventually evolve from a technical network security model to one that enables holistic and adaptive transformation in authentication security.
The dearth in cybersecurity talent continues, despite the increasing demand. As cybersecurity becomes a necessity for organizations, the decreasing supply of skilled personnel continues to be a challenge. Companies should prepare to address this head on by introducing effective training programs while onboarding talent, upskilling existing staff, and conducting cybersecurity awareness sessions for all employees. They should also consider offering salary increases with the required expertise to retain talent. SOC teams, on the other hand, should invest in easy-to-use security solutions that lighten the workload of their analysts. Vendors should strive to create a product with security by design in mind. These should also use adaptive thresholds to support security analysts, decrease false positives, and make alerts more accurate and precise.
After often bemoaning being left out of C-level decisions, CISOs have reached the boardroom. Now what? For many, while they have their foot in the door, their involvement is simply not potent enough. Cybersecurity exists as a common factor between technology and business. CISOs will be more involved in decisions that fall under the purview of both these departments. There will also be more board members who talk the technology-oriented "cybersecurity language" apart from the language of money and risk. Many CISOs, in their board presentations, will give more technical details about their cybersecurity program, while linking all of it to the financial impact.
Similarly, many security managers will also become more risk-oriented, and look for ways to decrease their organization's risk posture. Security vendors will start building solutions with risk posture management features.
Social engineering attacks are at an all time high and most data breaches are caused by human error. This is not news to cybercriminals, as can be seen in the evolving nature of phishing attacks. Organizations should be prepared to defend against AI-based phishing attacks that prey on gullible employees or third parties to penetrate networks, steal data, and execute ransomware attacks.
With the rise in nation-state threats as well as increased privacy concerns, governments are enforcing tighter regulations and cybersecurity standards. Canada's Consumer Privacy Protection Act, India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) and Brazil's General Data Protection Law are a few examples. In the US, there are California's Privacy Rights Act, and Utah's and Connecticut's Consumer Privacy Acts to name a few. SOC managers need to opt for security solutions that come equipped with compliance management features, and in-built security auditing components to help adhere to the latest norms. This will help SOC teams implement required security controls with ease and lead to easier compliance audits.
ManageEngine Log360 is a robust SIEM and compliance management solution that addresses every part of the analyst workflow-anomaly detection, incident investigation and response and forensic analysis. Equipped with state-of-the-art threat detection, AI- and ML-powered UEBA and SOAR modules, Log360 is designed with the future in mind. It's automated incident response workflows significantly reduce alert fatigue and ease analyst workload, helping security managers and their IT team. ManageEngine provides as a pay-as-you-go pricing model that delivers organizations with cost visibility and makes IT security budgeting hassle free.
To learn how ManageEngine Log360 can help you stay up-to-date with the latest cybersecurity trends, schedule a personalized demo with our solution experts.
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