The electronic space is increasingly becoming a volatile place with tons of cyberattacks reaching vulnerable systems and ignorant data storage systems. Individuals with hacking skills are on a show-off spree, as is with communities of hackers probing for loopholes in the infrastructure of big organizations in order to steal users' data.
State actors are not left out in the unfolding drama. The United States' recent election is a testament to the massive impact of state-sponsored attacks. Russia, for one, is accused of election meddling, which involved the fate of millions of people. There are similar threats by North Korea aimed at stealing information or disruption of public infrastructures like power grids and internet systems.
Consistently, the spate of attacks around the information technology space has surged massively and doesn't look like it would be stopping soon. For one, hackers are getting smarter by the minutes, and with the broadening coverage of IoT and cloud technology, quintillions of data is being generated daily by interconnected devices, data which the bad guys can mine and use to their advantage.
Quite frankly, more effort has, in the last years, been directed towards the development of these technologies than towards their protection. Business owners and large corporations, though aware of the growing concerns that data breaches bring, do not appear to be actively concerned until they are directly affected.
Take, for instance, despite having more than two years to prepare for its launch, a lot of companies were not still ready when the General Data Protection Regulation came into play. That only tells of the lip service readiness to protect users' information actively by many organizations. Uber, for example, was fined in 2018 for carelessness with users' data.
We can't even begin to talk of Facebook Cambridge Analytica scenario where millions of users' details were compromised willingly by Facebook without seeking the consent of users or intending ever to bring them into awareness until the news broke out through the backdoor. Consistently, our world is being faced with cyber threats that are growing larger and more sophisticated by the day. The prominence of Artificial intelligence and the advancement in quantum computing brings a not too hopeful reality. This you should know, is not in the context of the infallibility of hackers' proficiency of tools, but in the lack of readiness by organizations to tackle the menace.
The reality of security should be that stakeholders probe their own systems for vulnerabilities long before hackers discover them. Still, the reverse of this has been seen, as more of the attacked companies often start to scramble for solutions after a break-in has taken place. With the consistent increment in the sophistication of attacks and sporadic growth in AI and Quantum system development, what does the future hold for Cybersecurity?
Well, while we can create a predictive model of possible futuristic tendencies, a complete and definite model only lies on the advancement of the technologies that either make our world more secure or open us to more sophistication by the bad guys.
Here are what we think the nearest future of Cybersecurity will look like:
There will be a rampage of attacks with sophisticated AI
While until now, the proliferation of AI in cyberattacks has been limited due to a lack of overwhelming knowledge of how they can be used. But with the giant tech firms such as Google and Apple running, we should be set for a take over of artificial Intelligence in nearby decades. In the likeness with which giant tech firms are trying to develop AI, hackers are doing the same, even more, hence the opposing race.
And unlike systems with human errors, attacks carried out using AI tools will have explosive reactor's effects. We expect the popularity of AI modeled malware capable of infesting systems and laying low undetected till massive havoc is perpetuated.
To curb the devasting effect that these techniques will bestow, tech firms have to invest heavily in AI. Not just in how it can help yield more productivity, but how it can counter attacks proactively and prevent incoming attacks that could jeopardize the entire structure of an organization's framework.
Quantum Computing is coming
Yes, you read it write. Today we have seemingly complex mathematical encryptions that render data useless even when hackers get hold of it. The complexity of the encryption makes decoding a waste of time and resources, and the rewards don't seem to be worth the effort eventually.
But if you'll take time to think about it, will you conclude it will always remain this way. One, encryption technology does not guarantee total protection over data since some organized syndicates can still find their ways around the sophisticated ones.
The development of quantum computing will, however, change everything. These high-end computers will solve mathematical complexities within minutes, and much of the protective system of this age will be rendered near useless.
The players of big data have to get seriously involved in the development of quantum computing. They also must create countermeasures to protect its abuse and ward off hackers through more sophisticated routines that take care of nearly all vulnerabilities.
Companies that can key into the quantum computing space will grow rich and overtake those without the technology. An overwhelming loss in value is also expected of the big wigs which are lagging. And this value loss is expected to be sudden.
There will be a need for more Cybersecurity experts
As of present, more than any other information technology specialization, the Cybersecurity space is the most sought after. It isn't only for the lack of Cybersecurity specialists, but for the lack of sophisticated ones with proactive and superior knowledge of the field that tackles problems even before they occur.
Increasing migration towards cloud technology also means there will be a massive need to protect data that have moved from physical space to the cloud. Considering the increase statistics of attacks on cloud computing, cloud firms would require more Cybersecurity hands to stay in business.
In the same likeness, the expansion of IoT and the increasing interconnectivity of small devices will mean that hackers could have more data to feed on since hardware and chips are slow to encrypt due to heavy traffic. Cybersecurity experts will be required to block loopholes and ensure data safety constantly
The future of Cybersecurity is here already, budding as it may appear, the realities of now are pointers to the possibilities of the future. While mere thoughts of privacy infiltration can be scary, organizations that prioritizes data security have the propensity to be ahead of the bad guys and minimize the effects of breaches if attacks take place.