With the advancements in technology, the world is moving towards digitization more quickly than anyone anticipated. All businesses, organizations, firms, institutions, and even government organizations are digitizing their daily operations. The use of social media and online shopping is surging among consumers. Remote work is still prevailing, even after Covid-19. This means tons of data is being generated each day that is prone to cyber-attacks.
With new technologies, new types of cyber attacks are also coming to the surface. No industry is immune to data breaches, ransomware, and cyber attacks. That’s why the demand for expert cybersecurity analysts is on the rise. To ensure employee productivity, customer satisfaction, and smooth running of daily operations, companies must employ updated, secure, and the latest cyber security measures.
If you are a cyber security analyst, you must keep yourself updated with the latest trends in cyber security. Here are four cyber security trends that cyber security analysts must know and follow.
- Mobile Phones Are The New Target:
The increasing use of mobile phones among the masses is not unknown to anyone, including hackers and attackers. Nowadays, every company, every business, big or small, has developed a mobile-friendly website because they know the majority of people use their smartphones more often. Similarly, with the rise and ease of mobile banking, almost every one of us uses our mobile for daily transactions. That’s why mobile phones are becoming the prime target for cyber attacks.
As a cyber security analyst, you must equip yourself with a degree that gives you the skills you need to thrive in this ever-changing field so that you can always stay at the top of your game. Nowadays, many renowned institutions offer online programs. You can enroll in master cyber security online programs and increase your skills and knowledge. With such programs, you get to study under experienced faculty that are already working in and involved in cyber security research. An online program means you can enroll in such a degree program while still working full-time.
Our mobiles not only have our photos but our financial transactions history, our passwords of online banking apps, emails containing confidential information, etc., are all on our phones now. Thus, there is a need for updated cybersecurity practices to protect data on mobile phones.
- Cyber Security Risks with Remote Working:
During the Covid-19 pandemic, all businesses were forced to adopt remote working models, and now, even after the pandemic is over, remote work is still not declining. Many top organizations have adopted the remote work model, but this has given more chances of cyber attacks to hackers. It’s quite understandable that a common individual working from home doesn’t have access to more secure routers, firewalls, or access management under the control of IT teams.
A home office is less secure when it comes to cyber security as compared to a centralized office. That’s why data breaches because of remote work are becoming a norm. Cybercriminals have easily developed new tactics to take advantage of this situation. Most remote workers use the same personal device for both professional and personal use. This means most remote workers have Zoom or Microsoft Teams installed on their phones or personal laptop, and they use these and other apps for both personal and professional purposes. This blurs the line between personal and professional data.
So, the latest challenge that cyber security analysts face today is the security challenge of the distributed workforce. Thus, cyber security analysts should focus on implementing security controls, identifying and mitigating new security vulnerabilities, ensuring proper documentation and monitoring, improving systems, etc.
- Utilizing AI:
There is probably no one left in this world who has not heard the words artificial intelligence now. It seems like all that anyone talks about these days, especially in the field of information technology and cyber security, is AI. However, artificial intelligence is not something that is only limited to the field of computer or IT. It is being introduced in all segments of the market. Machine learning, with a combination of artificial intelligence, has changed the face of the cyber world.
As everything has its pros and cons, artificial intelligence is also being used by cyber criminals to develop smart malware and attacks to break through the updated and latest security protocols that protect sensitive information and data. But at the same time, artificial intelligence can be used to innovate and invent strong security systems that will not be easy to bypass.
Artificial intelligence has proven to be significant in building automated security systems, face detection, natural language processing, automatic threat detection, etc. Thus, cyber security analysts must use artificial intelligence to produce new automated and solid security systems.
- The Evolution of the Internet of Things:
Internet of Things or IoT are physical devices other than laptops, mobile phones, servers, etc., that connect to the internet and can also share data. Common examples of Internet of Things devices are smart refrigerators, wearable fitness trackers, smart watches, voice assistants like Google Home, etc. These expanding Internet of Things devices are creating more opportunities for cyber crimes.
According to estimates, there will be more than 64 billion Internet of Things devices that will get installed worldwide by 2026. Thus, the increasing number of additional devices alters the size and dynamics of what we call the cyber attack surface. In simpler terms, with so many additional devices, the result will be that several new potential points of entry will open up for malicious actors.
Another interesting thing about the Internet of Things devices is that these devices have fewer storage and processing capabilities as compared to smartphones and laptops. This means there is not enough storage space in IoT devices to employ antivirus, firewalls, or other security applications to protect these devices from cyber attacks. That is why it is an interesting and challenging trend for cyber security analysts to figure out how they can ensure strong security protocols in these devices that are constantly evolving and increasing.
Conclusion:
While big data and data analytics are changing the world for the better, there is also the need to protect this data from cyber attacks. Companies, businesses, and the government need to ensure that no critical information is leaked or accessed by any unauthorized person. And that’s why cybersecurity analysts are always on high alert to anticipate and tackle cybersecurity-related issues.