Life moves fast in the cloud, mirroring the pace of our daily lives.
In 2023, unpredictability defined everything from global events to economic trends. Cybersecurity, too, had its share of surprising twists and turns. As organizations gear up to strategize for security in 2024, it’s essential to reflect on the previous year and project forward.
The year began with Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) unexpectedly making headlines and taking center stage in conversations. The myriad new applications of GenAI reverberated throughout the cybersecurity sphere, emerging as a prominent topic and concern, notably underscored by a data breach involving ChatGPT.
According to Gartner Inc., the leading forces shaping the top cybersecurity trends for 2024 include Generative AI (GenAI), insecure employee practices, third-party vulnerabilities, ongoing threat exposure, communication gaps in boardrooms, and a focus on identity-centric security approaches.
In 2024, security leaders will address the collective influence of these factors by implementing various practices, technical advancements, and structural adjustments within their security initiatives. Their aim is to enhance organizational resilience and optimize the performance of cybersecurity functions.
7 Emerging Cybersecurity Trends to Watch Out in 2024
Here are the Top 7 trends that will exert a significant influence across these domains:
#1. Generative AI: Initial Concerns, Ongoing Potential
Security leaders must prepare themselves for the rapid advancement of GenAI and recognize that applications such as ChatGPT and Gemini are just the beginning of their transformative impact.
Amidst this, leaders face an influx of promises regarding productivity enhancements, bridging skill gaps, and other potential benefits in cybersecurity. Gartner advises leveraging GenAI through proactive collaboration with business stakeholders to establish the ethical, safe, and secure utilization of this disruptive technology.
#2. Cyber Metrics: Bridging Boardroom Communication Gap
The mounting frequency and severity of cybersecurity attacks are shaking the confidence of boards and executives in their security roadmap. To restore trust, organizations are embracing outcome-driven metrics (ODMs), offering a clear link between cybersecurity investments and the security they deliver, reassuring stakeholders.
Understanding the role of external factors, such as data brokers, is crucial. If you’re curious, you can read more about what is a data broker and how their activities might impact your organization’s data security.
Gartner emphasizes that ODMs play a pivotal role in formulating a robust cybersecurity investment strategy. These metrics encapsulate agreed-upon protection levels with strong attributes and are articulated in layman’s terms that are comprehensible to non-IT executives.
This approach offers a trustworthy and justifiable representation of risk tolerance, facilitating targeted investments to enhance protection levels.
#3. Security Behavior and Culture Programs Mitigating Human Risks
By 2027, it’s projected that 50% of large enterprise CISOs will have embraced human-centric security design principles. This approach aims to minimize friction caused by cybersecurity measures and enhance the adoption of controls.
Security behavior and culture programs (SBCPs) embody a comprehensive enterprise-wide strategy aimed at reducing cybersecurity incidents stemming from employee behavior. Security leaders acknowledge that transitioning from simply raising awareness to cultivating behavioral change is crucial in mitigating cybersecurity risks.
#4. Managed Cybersecurity focusing on Resilience and Resource-efficiency
As third-party cybersecurity incidents become increasingly inevitable, security leaders feel compelled to prioritize investments geared towards resilience rather than relying solely on front-loaded due diligence efforts.
Security leaders should bolster their risk management approaches regarding third-party services and cultivate mutually beneficial partnerships with critical external collaborators to ensure the ongoing protection of their most valuable assets.
#5. Accelerating Momentum in Continuous Threat Management
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) provides businesses with a realistic and methodical approach to continually assessing the accessibility, exposure, and exploitability of digital and physical assets. CTEM sharpens its focus on vulnerabilities by aligning assessments with threat vectors or business projects, not just infrastructure components.
CTEM approach not only strengthens cybersecurity defenses but also underscores the importance of protecting both digital and physical assets in today’s interconnected world. Gartner forecasts that by 2026, organizations prioritizing security investments through a CTEM program will experience a significant two-third drop in breaches.
#6. Enhancing Cybersecurity Through Identity Access and Management
With more organizations embracing an identity-first approach to security, the spotlight shifts from traditional network security to Identity and Access Management (IAM), underscoring its critical role in both cybersecurity and business success.
By ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to specific resources and information, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. Effective Identity Access and Management not only bolsters security but also streamlines processes, improves compliance, and contributes to overall business resilience.
#7. U.S. National Data Privacy Legislation
The progression of data privacy regulations, beginning with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and expanding to California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), is paving the way for the introduction of a national data privacy law in the United States, dubbed the American Data Privacy and Protection Act.
With the implementation of privacy acts in five states in 2024 and considering that data breaches incur an average cost of $4.45 million for companies, there is an urgent necessity for the establishment of a national standard for data privacy legislation.
Conclusion!
The escalating complexity of cyber threats emphasizing the security trends of 2024 emphasizes the necessity for advanced mitigation strategies. Organizations must grasp these trends, ensure the adoption of best practices, and contemplate partnering with managed security service providers to navigate the security landscape and establish a resilient, future-ready cyber defense.
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