Accelerated Digital Innovation to impact the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape in 2020

Its December and the Christmas lights are going up, so it can't be too early for cyber predictions for 2020.   With this in mind, Richard Starnes, Chief Security Strategist at Capgemini, sets out what the priorities will be for businesses in 2020 and beyond.

Richard Starnes, Chief Security Strategist, Capgemini

Accelerated digital innovation is a double-edged sword that will continue to hang over the cybersecurity threat landscape in 2020.  As businesses rapidly chase digital transformation and pursue the latest advancements in 5G, cloud and IoT, they do so at the risk of exposing more of their operations to cyber-attacks. These technologies have caused an explosion in the number of end-user devices, user interfaces, networks and data; the sheer scale of which is a headache for any cybersecurity professional. 

In order to aggressively turn the tide next year, cyber analysts can no longer avoid AI adoption or ignore the impact of 5G. 

AI Adoption

Hackers are already using AI to launch sophisticated attacks – for example AI algorithms can send ‘spear phishing’ tweets six times faster than a human and with twice the success. In 2020, by deploying intelligent, predictive systems, cyber analysts will be better positioned to anticipate the exponentially growing number of threats.

The Convergence of IT and OT

At the core of the Industry 4.0 trend is the convergence of operations technology (OT) and information technology (IT) networks, i.e. the convergence of industrial and traditional corporate IT systems. While this union of these formerly disparate networks certainly facilitates data exchange and enables organisations to improve business efficiency, it also comes with a host of new security concerns.

5G and IoT

While 5G promises faster speed and bandwidth for connections, it also comes with a new generation of security threats. 5G is expected to make more IoT services possible and the framework will no longer neatly fit into the traditional security models optimised for 4G. Security experts warn of threats related to the 5G-led IoT growth anticipated in 2020, such as a heightened risk of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

Death of the Password

2020 could see organisations adopt new and sophisticated technologies to combat risks associated with weak passwords.

More Power to Data Protection Regulations

In 2020, regulations like GDPR, The California Consumer Privacy Act and PSD2 are expected to get harsher. We might also see announcements of codes of conduct specific to different business sectors like hospitality, aviation etc. All this will put pressure on businesses to make data security a top consideration at the board level.