As businesses adopt layer upon layer of new technology to gain competitive advantage, reduce cost and accelerate innovation, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated at finding new angles of attack to steal and corrupt data, networks and hardware.
McKinsey & Company estimates companies will invest $102 billion in cybersecurity in the next few years and suffer annual hack-related costs of $11 trillion in the same period. Nine in 10 small- and medium-sized businesses are boosting IT security, and the consultant predicts global demand for professionals with advanced cybersecurity degrees will rise to 3.5 million.
“Companies can address and mitigate the disruptions of the future only by taking a more proactive, forward-looking stance — starting today,” McKinsey warns.
Northern Kentucky University’s online Master of Science (M.S.) in Cybersecurity program equips graduates to meet this global demand and face the emerging trends of the field.
Why Is the Future of Cybercrime Now?
Malicious actors — including state-sponsored and large, multinational cybercrime syndicates — are adopting the same powerful technologies businesses use to protect their data. Emerging trends in the ongoing race between black hat hackers and cybersecurity professionals include:
Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)
This is a strategy that automatically assumes every request for access to an enterprise technology or data asset is a threat. Companies are speeding up deployment of ZTA to counter a growing cyberthreat known as Shadow IT. While not necessarily malicious in nature, Shadow IT creates vulnerabilities when behind-the-firewall internal users introduce personal software, hardware or apps such as Dropbox, Slack and Skype without IT approval on enterprise systems.
“Shadow IT has exploded by 59% due to Covid-19, with 54% [of surveyed businesses] now considering themselves ‘significantly more at risk’ of a data breach,” according to business technology consultant Core.
As a result, companies can no longer rely on perimeter defenses such as firewalls and must leverage ZTA functionality to recognize every network request as a potential attack. It requires authentication, verification and encryption before access is permitted.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
These technologies enable businesses to deploy IT systems that use mathematical algorithms to learn in real time without human intervention. Enterprises use AI/ML to automate tasks, improve decision-making and drive efficiencies. They also use it to identify patterns and trends in data streams that suggest potential threats.
Cybercriminals, however, are adopting the same advanced technologies to launch malware attacks that can program themselves to probe defenses, find vulnerabilities and exploit them. An emerging concern of AI/ML in cyber defense is how to protect the algorithms that make smart machines possible.
“If we rely on machine learning algorithms to detect and respond to cyberattacks, it is all the more important that those algorithms be protected from interference, compromise, or misuse,” the Brookings Institution advises.
Cloud Security
The concept of cloud security was propelled to the forefront of cyber defense in 2020 when hackers launched a massive attack on SolarWinds, a business software development company. The hackers placed a bit of code into a soon-to-be-released update to SolarWinds’ widely used Orion program.
The code stayed silent until the update was distributed and activated itself several weeks after it was installed, undetected, by an estimated 18,000 government and corporate organizations — including cloud software vendors — worldwide.
“For months the hackers … could take their pick, spying on and stealing information, whizzing around thousands of different organisations,” according to Foreign Policy magazine, as the malware spread through the cloud “vacuuming up emails and files.”
The Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT connects devices connected to the internet — including everything from telemedicine and smart homes to autonomous vehicles and industrial systems. Organizations use the data collected from connected devices to create value, increase efficiencies and improve consumer experiences. Unfortunately, that constant connectivity also enables new vulnerabilities for malicious access to sensitive information.
“The risks are exponentially greater,” according to Deloitte, and “the cyber risk landscape is inexhaustibly complex and ever changing.”
Quantum Computing
This concept is still over the horizon, but mathematicians and computer scientists are already working on solutions to the threat it poses to current encryption protocols. Powered by the fundamentals of quantum physics, Google’s “Sycamore” completed a computation in 200 seconds that would have taken thousands of years for today’s most powerful computers to calculate.
The Cloud Security Alliance cautions that a malicious actor with a quantum computer would be able to break practically all known data and network protections, which would be “a devastating outcome.”
The technical maneuvering between cybercriminals and companies trying to protect their data and networks is driving huge demand, according to Cybersecurity Dive, which reports that the 2022 need vaulted over 2021 requirement by 26%, and “the cybersecurity talent gap will remain an ongoing challenge in 2023.”
How Do Professionals Acquire the Skills for Cybersecurity Careers?
The Master of Science in Cybersecurity program offered online by Northern Kentucky University — which the National Security Agency recognizes as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity — equips graduates with theory and hands-on experience in:
- Cloud computing and security
- Security architecture
- Incident detection and response
- Data privacy
The program is designed with an inside look at the industry based on market intelligence outlining the most vital technical expertise future cybersecurity professionals will need to guard against real-world digital threats.
Learn more about Northern Kentucky University’s online Master of Science in Cybersecurity program.
