During the last 8 years IT industry hot topics were data governance, network monitoring, threat detection, virtualization, new cost-effective approaches to infrastructure management, backup and disaster recovery solutions and identity governance solutions.
However, there’s a new set of IT priorities around security issues that are rising quickly to the top. IT vendors need to consider the following 5 industry trends. They are likely to dominate IT conversations into next year and beyond:
#1. Account hijacking spreads panic
Even advanced protection is not a panacea against sophisticated cyber-attacks; instead of contriving new ways to compromise an organization’s security mechanisms, hackers simply target administrator credentials. Hidden threats posed by insider misuse make enterprise-level visibility into activities of privileged users more important than ever. This helps discover threats across all levels of IT environment and mitigate data-related risks.
#2. The cloud offers identity management
Cloud providers continue to upgrade their technology, focusing not only on cost-effectiveness and scalability, but heavily investing in security services. Offering more flexible access management models, providers help their customers establish more advanced security controls than companies can normally provide on-site. This makes cloud options more attractive to midsized businesses and, partially, large enterprises that are more likely to deploy hybrid cloud models while storing some of their data on-premises.
#3. Security as an important part of MSP
Entrusting data and services to MSPs could be challenging and may increase security risks and compliance violations. When selecting a managed service provider, businesses need to verify that the chosen provider can create infrastructure that is highly secure by default, ensure continuous compliance and provide a viable disaster recovery plan.
#4. Virtual environment needs security too
The adoption speed of virtual environments is impressive. About two-thirds of organizations worldwide already use virtualization and a significant number have plans to join them next year. The rapid spread of the technology, its growing importance for businesses, and increased security threats pose the question of advanced protection. Companies still underestimate the importance of virtual environment security, but the trend has started to change as more organizations are planning to invest in virtualization security in the nearest future.
#5. “Wetware” is the weakest link in cyber security chain
The human factor remains the prominent threat in terms of IT security. No matter how strong companies’ internal controls are, even employees’ slightest mistakes can cause serious data breaches. Experts agree that one of a few truly effective strategies for overcoming potential threats is building a risk-aware culture across all levels of the organization. It is extremely important to convince employees that IT security is everybody’s job, not an external burden on IT departments.
Security will remain one of the most high priority topics in the coming year. Specifically, enhanced visibility into cloud and virtual environments, advanced protection of privileged accounts, and protection from the human factor, possibly the worst pain point of any company, will rise to the top of the IT conversation.
