A lot of people would describe 2016 as the year that hacking went mainstream. Ransomware attacks dominated the year with over 62 new ransomware families appearing by the end of 2016. The headlines around massive phishing attacks, DDoS disruptions and other advanced threats will not slow down in 2017. Organisations need to prepare for the ‘creative’ cybersecurity trends that this year will come with.

1.IoT Security

It is said that by 2020, more than 25% of identified enterprise attacks will involve IoT. However, IoT will account for only 10% of IT security budgets. 2017 is just a stepping stone on this journey for this cybersecurity trends.

Roughly 5000 smart devices connect to the Internet each minute. Malware such as Mirai poses a great vulnerability as it is offering the capability to allow attackers to control these devices. There are many security risks associated with the increasing use of IoT devices, but for the numerous organisations using IoT devices the biggest risk is not realising that they are at risk. Many IoT devices are vulnerable to attacks because they do not undergo sufficient security testing, often run outdated software, and it is not possible to install a firewall or other security software onto them.

2. Increased Regulations

With new the EU GDPR (European Union General Data Protection Regulation) going into effect in May 2018, 2017 is a year where companies will need to adjust to the new privacy framework. For companies that process European citizens’ data (regardless of what country they operate from) the GDPR will impose mandatory breach notifications, privacy impact assessments, privacy by design and the right-to-be-forgotten. Organisations failing to comply will face fines up to 4% of their annual global revenue or 20 million Euro.

3. Cognitive Computing driving the predictive cybersecurity posture

The increasingly sophisticated attack methods make it harder and harder for cybersecurity specialists to keep up the pace. Artificial intelligence will change how information security specialists defend against cyberattacks. Cognitive computing can blend human-generated security knowledge with more traditional security data, enabling computers to learn from data in a similar way to humans. Cyber security in the form of cognitive has the potential to significantly reduce incident response times, optimise the precision of alerts and keep up-to-date with the latest threat research.

We will be discussing all these trends plus much more at Zero Day Con, on March 7th, in the Convention Centre Dublin. The conference will feature keynote speakers and panels. offering unique insights on cybersecurity, blockchain technology, IoT security, EU GDPR and cognitive computing. Zero Day Con will also include an unique opportunity for guests to attend a specialised GDPR workshop. Here you will learn how to prepare for the regulation before May 2018. Want to learn more? Visit www.zerodaycon.com

Smarttech247