Cybersecurity Trends to Know in 2020

Last updated on June 23rd, 2022 at 04:30 am

According to the 2018 Hiscox Cyber Readiness report, 73% of companies are not prepared to respond to a cyber-attack. The failure to institute comprehensive cybersecurity measures puts your organization at risk of a wide variety of threats such as:

• Lost money
• Data theft
• Expensive recovery costs
• Diminished customer trust

As cyber-attacks become more frequent and more sophisticated, the onus is on organizations to ensure that they are using the most up-to-date security technology available.

1. Data Protection Regulation Goes Global

In May 2019, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) celebrated its first birthday. GDPR provides a set of guidelines to help make data security practices more organized, transparent and protected. Several locations around the world have introduced similar regulations including:

• Australia: The Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) scheme
• Brazil: The General Data Protection Law (LGPD)
• California: The Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
• Canada: The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
• Japan: The EU Commission’s “adequacy decision” ruled that Japan’s data protection regime offers equivalent protection to GDPR

Even if you are not affected by GDPR, you should plan to align your organization’s data protection policies with GDPR as it is likely that similar regulation will eventually be implemented in your region.

2. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Security Solutions Go Mainstream

According to data from Cylance Blackberry:

• 2% of surveyed security professionals plan to use artificial intelligence for cybersecurity defense
• 5% use it for malware prevention
• 6% use it for advanced threat prevention

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies could potentially be used to identify and respond to cyber-threats as they occur. This tech would gather and analyze enough data to facilitate decision-making; allowing it to act predictively, rather than reactively, to security threats. Intelligence-driven security will facilitate dynamic cybersecurity responses to the changing threat landscape.

3. Cloud Security Continues to Grow in Importance

“Public cloud is a secure and viable option for many organizations, but keeping it secure is a shared responsibility… Organizations must invest in security skills and governance tools that build the necessary knowledge base to keep up with the rapid pace of cloud development and innovation.” – Peter Firstbrook, research vice president at Gartner

As more organizations migrate to the cloud, cloud security will remain a top concern. Around 29% of organizations have a potential cloud account compromises. The biggest risks to cloud security include customer misconfiguration, mismanaged credentials or insider theft. 64% of cybersecurity professionals cite data loss and leakage as their main concern. 62% say data privacy and confidentiality is their top cloud security priority. Going forward, greater education is needed for cloud protection and hygiene.

4. The Importance of Security for the “Connected Everything” Age

The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is expected to surpass 20.4 billion by 2020. Increased adoption of IoT will also bring about increased vulnerability for enterprises and consumers alike. Many IoT devices are not secure end-to-end, this is partly due to a lack of any industry-wide security standards. Potential threats include hijacking, privacy leaks, unsecured devices, and even home intrusion. Potential targets include connected cars, smart cities, smart homes, and virtual assistants.

5. The Emergence of Next-Gen Authentication Technology

Passwords are problematic for several reasons. Firstly, today’s technology makes it easy to hack even the most complex passwords. This is exacerbated by the fact that many users practice poor password habits e.g. rarely/never changed or used across multiple accounts. More than 85% of cyberattacks are a result of people getting tricked out of their passwords. Biometric tech offers a safer alternative. This involves identifying people through their unique physical characteristics or behaviors. Examples include facial, voice, and fingerprint recognition. By 2019, the use of passwords and tokens in medium-risk use cases will drop 55% due to the introduction of recognition technologies. Multi-factor authentication will also become more commonplace. This requires the user to provide two or more independent credentials in order to verify their identity.

Read this guide from Paradyn to discover the top trends shaping cybersecurity in 2020.