
Trends in access management, breach detection and privacy regulations affect IT and cybersecurity professionals across industries. Here’s what you need to know to help your business or organization stay on top of emerging threats and meet changing compliance requirements.
New Trends in Identity and Access Management
The identity and access management market is expected to exceed $18.9 billion by 2024. Driving this explosion is the increase in requirements for better access management at banks, financial institutions and the growing number of companies adopting BYOD policies to support remote employees. North America is projected to be the leader in providing solutions to meet these changing IAM requirements.
Hackers are Developing Sophisticated and Subtle Attacks
Advanced breach detection technologies are spurring hackers to get more creative with the ways they infiltrate networks and obtain unauthorized access to data. One approach with the potential to significantly increase malware distribution and the reach of other malicious practices like cryptojacking is the compromise of open-source software. Open-source programs and platforms are widely used by individuals and organizations due to the low cost of implementation and the opportunity to modify the basic code as needed. Hackers can take advantage of the communal nature of open-source options to insert small snippets of malicious code, which may go undetected when the software is distributed.
Hackers are also getting wise to the potential applications of artificial intelligence. While businesses and organizations are taking advantage of the power of AI technology to detect anomalies in user behavior indicative of a potential breach, hackers are using the same techniques to gather information on what constitutes normal behavior so that they can mimic legitimate users and fly under the radar during attacks. AI may also make it possible to create contextualized phishing emails delivered as part of existing email threads, creating a whole new set of concerns for companies already experiencing increasing threats from spear phishing attacks.
Subtlety characterizes another trending behavior among hackers known as a trust attack. Instead of infiltrating a network to steal large amounts of data, hackers using trust attacks may change just a few pieces of information with the intent of undermining the public’s trust in an organization like a bank or hospital. With more financial information, health records and other critical data becoming digitized, these attacks could have serious consequences for important institutions.
Beware of Stricter Noncompliance Penalties
Businesses have been working to meet the standards of GDPR since its implementation in 2018 with varying degrees of success. As of yet, regulators haven’t imposed the full fine of 4 percent of annual global revenue on any noncompliant company, but this may change soon. Businesses will be expected to fulfill the original purpose of the regulations by prioritizing the protection of user data and putting practices in place to ensure data privacy, and penalties for those failing to comply are likely to become more severe.
However, because breaches are becoming more expensive, detection and response may initially take precedent for the majority of businesses. Consumers recognize the potential dangers of having their data exposed, and regulators are expected to step in more often, creating new laws and guidelines for companies to follow. This increase in regulations will require businesses of all sizes to take a proactive approach to data protection and breach prevention.
With everything from access control to breach prevention technology changing at a rapid pace, it’s essential to keep track of what’s happening in IT and cybersecurity. The increasing sophistication of hackers requires IT professionals to take an aggressive approach to security protocols, and understanding emerging threats is crucial to maintaining data integrity in modern network environments.