The Top 8 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2023-2024

It’s privacy law, ransomware attacks, and cyberphysical attacks focusing on the board level that make security and risk leaders consider a whole set of priorities.

“How do we ensure our consumers are not physically harmed by rogue agents?” That is the kind of question security and risk leaders need to predict and plan for in the future.

One of the organisation’s problems is new digital products and services that make the cyber-world merge with physical one, for example autonomous cars or digital twins—threat actors will start to use this too, I guess.

Download roadmap: How to Mature Your Information Security Program

Why is Cybersecurity Important?

Cybersecurity will help retain your data safe from the cyber threats like hacking, phishing and malware. For businesses, it stops financial ruin and data losses and reputational damage; for individuals, it protects personal information from bank details to private communications.

Some ways where small-to-large size and even multinationals can protect themselves from cyber-attacks are as follows. The best piece of advice, for instance, could mean the difference between downloading an antivirus program to keep your computer safe and potentially up to date. With this software, we can detect and remove malware from computers. Firewalls are also crucial to protecting your computer or network from outside access.

Key Point: It prevents financial loss, data breaches, and maintains trust.

In the course of his address within the framework of the Gartner IT Symposium/XPOTM 2021, Sam Olyaei who holds the position of Director Analyst in the Gartner research company, noted, Most importantly, it seems, we are starting to go back into this old habit of treating everything as we used to do. This is the point where things must change. I believe it is essential that…

Since the turn of the century, reforming one’s philosophy, program, architecture, manner of perceiving things has been necessary.

Pull Quote: More and more “in such a state of change ” and/or “in such a twist “to come back to some old architecture ideas.

And that’s not good enough, as security and risk management is now becoming a board-level concern for businesses. With the proliferation of security busts, so to speak; comes increased legislation which follows to protect consumers and puts novation at gun point in place of keeping security as a business decision.

Read more: Gartner Top Security and Risk Trends for 2021

Gartner analysts anticipate that over the ensuing six years, more decentralization, regulation and safety implications would come into play. Incorporate this set of strategic planning assumptions into your roadmap for the year ahead.

1. By the end of 2023, modern privacy laws will cover the personal information of 75% of the world’s population.

These enacted measures imply that there are varied data protection legislation that you will need to handle in different locations, and that all your potential customers will be curious about what data you have and how do you use it. It also implies that you will have to streamline and automate your privacy management application. Package basic security procedures with GDRP as the beginning and the adapt to other regions.

2. By 2024, organizations adopting a cybersecurity mesh architecture will reduce the financial impact of security incidents by an average of 90%.

Currently, organizations are using various technologies in several locations, and hence they require a flexible security solution. A cybersecurity mesh goes beyond just the traditional security boundaries to integrate and manages a view of the entire organization. It also enhances the security for working off-site. Such requirements will seek adoption in the next two years.

Ultimate Guide: Cybersecurity

By 2024, 30% of enterprises will adopt cloud-delivered Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Firewall As A Service ( FWaaS ) capabilities from the same vendor. 

Consolidation and optimization of resources is the new mantra for organizations. Security leaders look after usage of tens of tools, but plan to bring that number down to less than 10. SaaS will be the leading method of delivery while consolidation will affect the time of adoption of hardware.

4. By 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements. 

Risk associated with cybersecurity is now becoming a dominant factor for investment opportunities especially among venture capitalists. Increasingly, organizations look to cybersecurity risk during business deals, including mergers and acquisitions and vendor contracts. This has led to the increase in the number of questionnaires and security ratings whereby data on a partner’s cyber security program is requested.

5. The percentage of nation states passing legislation to regulate ransomware payments, fines and negotiations will rise to 30% by the end of 2025, compared to less than 1% in 2021.

Even if the larger regulations were to pass with respect to ransomware payments, security professionals should anticipate more significant action being taken against payment of any kind. In an area like cryptocurrency that is mostly unregulated, paying ransoms has ethical, legal and moral implications and it should be recognized that this can have long-term consequences. What is in scope should be determined by a cross-functinoal team who have considered all of these issues – and no easy way to decide whether or not to pay.

Listen now: 

6. By 2025, 40% of boards of directors will have a dedicated cybersecurity committee overseen by a qualified board member. 

As cybersecurity rises to the top of most boards’ lists-and stays there-expect to see the board-level cybersecurity committee and increased oversight with stricter scrutiny. This increases the visibility of cybersecurity risk throughout the organization, with a new approach toward reporting at the board level that depends on the background and experience of the specific board members. Focus messaging on value, risk, and cost.

By 2025, 70% of CEOs will require organizational resilience as a culture to thrive with coincident threats from cybercrime, civil unrest, severe weather events, and political instabilities.

Move beyond cybersecurity and into organizational resilience to capture broader security environments. As digital transformation increases complexity within the threat environment, it will similarly change how you produce products and services. Work toward defining organisational resilience as well as its objectives and thus develop an inventory of cyber risks affecting them.

By 2025, threat actors will have weaponized OT environments successfully enough to cause human casualties.

Once malware spreads to OT and further from IT, it will be a matter of physical harm and not business disruption, and responsibility is likely to go all the way up to the CEO. Asset-centric cyber-physical systems must focus on proper teams for management.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the key trends in cybersecurity for the coming years?

• Some of the most notable ones deal with the increasing influence of privacy laws, ransomware attacks, the protection of cyber-physical systems, and a greater focus on board-level interest in security. These trends reflect how cybersecurity is evolving and becoming more central to business strategies.
  

2. How will privacy laws impact businesses by the end of 2023?

• By the end of 2023, it will be estimated that new privacy laws will cover the personal information of three-quarters of the world’s population. Companies must, therefore, be able to deal with a number of different legislations on data protection in varied jurisdictions, forcing them to adapt and automate their privacy management systems to different regulations.

3. What is cybersecurity mesh architecture, and why is it important?

• Cybersecurity mesh architecture (CSMA) is a highly adaptable security solution that deploys and integrates different security systems in numerous environments. By 2024, an average of 90% decrease in financial impact of security incidents is predicted for organizations that will have implemented this approach. It helps develop a centralised security concept, particularly in the era of increased remote working, and enables organizations to better address security threats.

4. How will cybersecurity affect third-party transactions in the future?

• Forecasts indicate that by the year 2025, about 60% of all companies in the world will factor in cybersecurity risk as one of the determinants in the engagement of third parties in transactions or other business activities. This implies that there will be a lot of focus on cybersecurity practices during merger and acquisition deals for example or even vendor contracts whereby more attention will be paid to the security measures of the potential partners.

5. Will ransomware payments face more regulation in the future?

• Indeed, it is anticipated that by the close of 2025, thirty percent of sovereign nations will have enacted laws regulating payments, penalties, and discussions relating to ransomware. This indicates that there is a rising awareness, at a global level, regarding the severe threat posed by ransomware and the moral and legal consequences of ransom payments.

Conclusion

The domain of Cyber Security is seen to change at a very high pace. Thus, protection has to be taken up by organizations, government, and individuals effective measures since the level of arising threats is on the rise. Responsively, technology will dictate changes in privacy laws and they will require businesses to comply with several laws and improve their care for customer’s information. There are other emerging challenges which include ransomware, cyber-physical systems and the need for increased organizational resilience.