What is Cyber Security?
Cybersecurity refers to the technological processes that are designed to defend computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from attacks, damage, or unauthorized access. It's also known as information technology security or electronic information security. Read more.
Importance of cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is important in today's world because all the data is stored in computers or other devices nowadays. From government, military, corporate, financial to medical organisations all of them collect and store unprecedented amounts of data on computers and other devices. These data can be sensitive information, financial data, or any other which exposure could have negative consequences.
In the business world, organisations transmit sensitive data across networks and to other devices, and cybersecurity helps the organisations protecting that information and the systems that are used to process or store it.
12 must consider cybersecurity predictions for 2021
As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic has made everything digital. People started working from home, classes were held online, fees and salary were transferred digitally, important deals were being done online, and whatnot.
Our dependence on computers or other devices for storing the data increases the threat of hacking data and digging out important information that can change the fate of anyone. Hence, cybersecurity becomes the main concern for most people.
1. Bigger cybersecurity budgets and more full-time cyber staff
Cybersecurity budgets are driven by cybercrime, and with the increase in cyber attacks, organisations are increasing cybersecurity. Last year's cyberattacks on healthcare facilities in the U.S. affected 17.3 million people in 436 breaches as tracked by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Breach Portal.
According to the PwC Global Digital Trust Insights 2021, more than 55 percent of enterprises will be increasing their cybersecurity budgets. And around 51 percent of the executives in the survey said they would add full-time cybersecurity staff. Clearly, with things going digital chances of cyberattacks are increasing, and any information in the wrong hands can create chaos.
2. Rapid growth in security service
Security service ensures adequate security of the systems or data transfers. And IDC reported that till 2021 half of the cybersecurity spending will account for security services alone. Along with that, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6 percent managed security services are predicted to be the largest category of security services spending. The software will be the second-largest segment led by software like end-point security, intelligence, analytics, and orchestration software.
3. Cybersecurity spending of SMBs to grow at 10 percent CAGR till 2024
Source: Forbes
The drastic change in working habits due to covid-19 has increased the demand for cybersecurity solutions. According to Analysys Mason, with the growth at 10 percent CAGR, the worldwide cybersecurity (including hardware, software, and services) spending of small and medium businesses (SMBs) market worth will be $80 billion by 2024.
4. Cybersecurity spending of IT to grow at 12 percent CAGR by 2021
Cybersecurity crimes like phishing, breaches, end-point security, and abuse of credentials are increasing at a faster pace. Due to this exponential increase in cybercrime the cybersecurity software global market is predicted to grow from $183.2 billion in 2019 to $230 billion in 2021 which is a CAGR of 12 percent, as said by IDC.
5. Identity and Access Management, network security, and messaging security will be spending hotspots
The Covid-19 crisis has brought a drastic change in cybersecurity priorities as well as budget. According to McKinsey, the top three hotspots of enterprise cybersecurity spending in 2021 will be Identity and Access Management, messaging security, and security.
6. Four sectors will show the fastest growth in cybersecurity spending
According to McKinsey, the four key industries, healthcare, finance, media technology, and the public sector will see the most rapid growth in cybersecurity spending through 2021.
Also read: Is Self-Help AI The New Trend?
7. Intellectual property will be the next target of hackers
President and CEO of Centrify, Flint Brenton says that Intellectual Property (IP) will be targeted more often in 2021. Last year we already saw a rise in healthcare breaches as patient records often fetch up to $1,000 each. Also during the pandemic, we saw a trend of cyber adversaries targeting intellectual property such as vaccine research, including Russia’s APT29 that targeted research centers in the U.K, U.S., and Canada. In such a situation, IP can fetch several hundred thousand dollars.
8. Global cybercrime costs to grow 15 percent for the next five years
In a recent article published in Cybercrime Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Steve Morgan says that Cybersecurity Ventures expects global cybercrime costs will reach up to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 with growth by 15% per year over the next five years. And according to Cybersecurity Ventures, if cybercrime were measured as a country, it would be the world’s third-largest economy after the U.S. and China. From $3 trillion in 2015 to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, it represents the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history,
Read the article by Steve Morgan to get a detailed idea about it.
9. Improvements in AI and machine learning
AI and machine learning will become more advanced in 2021 and the next coming tears. According to Alan Braithwaite, Senior Director, Product Management at Ivanti, these advances will allow devices to self-heal and self-secure by as much as 80 percent. This will allow IT to set policies and know their devices and data are secure, and IT can focus on transforming their business to be more competitive in their market. Not only that, this will enable employees to receive a more ambient, personalized device experience where they can remain productive irrespective of their work location and device used.
10. More consolidation among end-point security vendors
Source: Varonis
Analysys Mason predicted that though larger security vendors continue to grow organically through acquisition, smaller vendors especially vendors in end-point security are finding it hard to increase revenue. Many endpoint security vendors have annual revenue below $500 million and are growing slower than the market. They do not have meaningful differentiators.
Must-read: Do You Know About the AI-Driven Future?
11. Three cybersecurity technologies to become very influential by 2023
In October last year, Gartner's Impact Radar for Security framework predicted that in the next three years, Passwordless Authentication, Cloud Workload Protection Platform, and Cloud Security Posture Management will be one of the most influential technologies in cybersecurity.
12. Non-US-headquartered cybersecurity organizations will see a 20 percent rise in cybersecurity funding in 2021
Heidi Shey, Forrester Cybersecurity's principal analyst said that non-US-headquartered cybersecurity companies will increase cybersecurity funding by 20% in 2021. Adding on she mentioned that multinational firms will have to give up their single-sourcing approach and accept the reality of point solutions based on region. She also predicts a CISO from a Global 500 firm will be fired for instilling a toxic security culture and audit findings and budget pressure will cause a rise in the adoption of quantification tech.
Change in the cybersecurity organisations due to Covid-19
The covid-19 pandemic did not spare a single human or sector from its impact. A lot of changes took place, some for the good while others for the bad. Cybersecurity is a sector that is showing drastic change due to coronavirus, and experts say that there will be a rapid rise in the cybersecurity budget and priorities in the coming years. Read more.
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