Where IT Security Monitoring is headed in the next 5 Years

Security is always the primary concern of managed IT services and the future is looking very bright indeed. Over the coming few years we can expect some radical changes in the ways we manage and secure our data. With effective professional management, these ought to help make it far more difficult for malicious attacks to steal and compromise essential data. Anyone looking to revamp their IT security monitoring needs to be aware of the following developments. They could well prove game-changers in the battle against hackers.

 1) Hardware Validation will become the Norm

No matter how watertight a company’s password protection policy may be, the fact is that these are frankly becoming an outdated way of managing end-user verification. Hardware manufacturers are now appreciating that their users demand ever more secure networks – and we can expect to see this become a key feature in the next generation of products. Network users will still require login and password credentials but these will become hardware-specific. With many companies now issuing dedicated hardware to their employees (laptops, phones, etc) as a matter, of course, we can expect this to become mainstream within the next five years at most.

2) Enhanced Encryption

It is essential to understand that encryption can only ever be as effective as verification allows – but we can still expect these to become even more secure. Tokenization is going to continue to be the biggest trend over the next few years, possibly designed in ways that allow for data to only travel exclusively across designated networks. On a corporate level expect to see companies making their encryption security a major selling point in the coming future, especially when they can boast a track record that demonstrates their ability to defend data against breaches.

3) More Advanced User-Behavior Analytics

IT security monitoring is going to be headed towards more independently minded ways of identifying fraudulent and potentially damaging network use. Once someone’s password has been hacked/misused, the only realistic way of managing loss prevention is to incorporate automated analytical software. This will identify unusual changes in the account user’s behavior – for instance accessing sensitive data usually beyond their remit – and automatically request further user verification details. More advanced designs will look at ‘peer analysis’ whereby it is not just the individual user placed under scrutiny but their entire team/level within the company. For instance, if there is no history of someone working in one department having ever attempted to access data required only by others, this will be red-flagged by the monitoring software.

4) Cloud Adaptability

The Cloud may provide all sorts of advantages to business users but there is an undeniable risk that it enhances the general risk for essential data becoming compromised. At the moment Cloud security measures still lag behind those offered by on-site IT security professionals – so expect to see a host of dedicated security services offering to protect businesses who choose to operate in this manner. Whether or not ‘virtualized’ firewalls, virus/malware scanners, and identity verification tools are going to eventually match in-house services is currently difficult to predict – but we can at least expect significant improvements.

5) Deep Learning

AI is becoming an increasingly effective component within professional network security and all indications suggest that this will become an ever more capable part of analytic software. Instead of looking simply at usage and access, these programs should be able to look at the whole network as a more organic entity. Potential risks and flaws will be automatically identified and even remedied – perhaps being able to ‘second guess’ security flaws before they take effect. Needless to say, such software is still firmly rooted in the development and testing stages, but given the speed of advance we’re expecting over the next few years, there’s certainly a high chance of this becoming a real-world option sooner rather than later.