This year, we will look back and call it the ‘year of hindsight’ now that we have ‘2020’ vision. The entire world is going through more upheaval than we could ever imagine, but hopefully, our learnings will make us wiser and more resilient to whatever comes in the future. In 2020, we can all agree that certain emerging events were unpredictable. However, now that we adjusted to a new normal and vaccines are on the horizon, 2021 looks somewhat more predictable than 2020, even if we have to stay inside a little longer.
We predict in 2021 to see security trends that have either been accelerated or launched during the pandemic. Here are Seclore’s six security predictions for 2021:
Prediction # 1 – ‘Work from Home’ is the New’ Office’
The term ‘work from home’ has forever entered our pandemic lexicon. In 2021, the digital workforce’s evolution will continue its momentum, at least until vaccines are widely distributed. Not all companies will opt for a remote workforce, but many will adopt a hybrid work model. A hybrid on-prem and at-home work model brings advantages to sourcing the best talent and reducing overhead costs. However, it also brings increased data security risk of sensitive and regulatory information shared outside the corporate network.
In a recent IBM Security Work From Home Survey, 58% of employees reported they were not introduced or were unsure of security policies around managing PII data when working remotely. Over half (53%) reported using personal and work-related devices at home. Sensitive data residing on personal devices or being managed remotely by employees means the ‘Zero Trust’ trend will continue to accelerate in 2021. The future of data protection will require the data itself to be protected as it’s impossible to ensure all devices are protected or work-related in the future.
Listen to Heidi Shey, Principal Analyst at Forrester serving Security and Risk Professionals, discuss with Seclore’s CEO why data-centric security is imperative to Zero Trust. Note: Recording is available until March 1, 2021.
Prediction # 2 – Lack of Manpower will Drive Automation
A lack of security professionals is nothing new. In Seclore’s 2018 Predictions, we predicted that security resources would become even more scarce. We know that before Covid-19, the supply of qualified security professionals was insufficient. However, working from home has dramatically increased the need and competition for security professionals. Security is also not a 9 am to 5 pm threat. It’s a 24x7x365, around the clock threat as cybercriminals don’t take holidays and now have new avenues to steal data – the virtual workspace.
Security solutions that can intelligently automate security to protect sensitive and regulatory data itself will prevail. Automation is key to reducing the number of resources required to deploy security solutions and simplify user and policy administration. It can also run around the clock with zero reliance on employees to implement security, making it scalable and less prone to human errors.
Prediction # 3 – Faster Adoption of Enterprises Shifting to the Cloud
Security has been a roadblock to the adoption of the cloud for years. The cloud makes critical applications, such as email and content sharing, accessible to a wide range of attacks. However, the benefits of hosting data and applications in the cloud are that your employees can access data outside the corporate office, anytime, anywhere.
Last year and earlier this year, we saw our Microsoft enterprise customers move to the cloud with M365. With the threat of Covid-19, the speed of adoption accelerated. The pandemic caused the office walls to collapse almost immediately as employees were forced to stay home. We predict that in 2021 more enterprises will move entirely to the cloud as a distributed workforce business model will be more prevalent than before Covid-19. Enterprises will be hyper-focused on improving how they control their data, especially with intellectual property or regulated data. Both can cost their organization, whether losing a competitive edge or incurring hefty fines. Tracking data usage at a data-centric level and monitoring employee behavior for suspicious activity will be imperative as data moves to or through the cloud.
Don’t miss Part ll of Seclore’s Top 6 Data Security Predictions for 2021. Follow us on twitter.
Vishal comes with more than a decade of experience in sales, marketing and business management. He is the Founder and CEO of Seclore and handles corporate development, investor relations and strategic vision.
Vishal is an IIT Bombay (Electrical Engineering) graduate and a specialist in biometric security systems. His ideation in fingerprint imaging led to the development of the core technology behind Herald Logic, a company he founded in 2000. The company showed record 220% CAGR, spreading to Singapore, Australia and UK.
Vishal is also an active participant in physics activities with the IAPT (Indian Association of Physics Teachers) and NSEP (National Standard Examination in Physics), he is amongst the top 1% in the country in physics.
He is an active sports person, a keen blogger on information security solutions and an intrepid speaker at various information security forum.
