Today's Predictions for Tomorrow's Internet

In observance of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Bitdefender offers a series of articles on hot topics such as best practices in online safety and protecting your company’s assets and integrity. We also suggest prerequisites to consider before seeking a career in cybersecurity. We encourage you to bookmark this blog or connect with Bitdefender on LinkedIn or Twitter to receive follow-on articles (filled with security tips) as they are published.

The Internet has come a long way since two machines first digitally shook hands over a phone line. In 2016 alone, the billions of interconnected devices that make up the World Wide Web exchanged more than a zettabyte of data. While the explosive growth of the Internet can take a business from rags to riches at a dizzying speed, cybercrime can shred it back to tatters even faster. At Bitdefender, we keep a vigilant eye on threats and trends to design new defenses for new developments. Here are some predictions of the most important pain points of security decision makers for the year to come:

Secure browsing will gain significant adoption in 2018

Web-based applications have become extremely widespread in organizations of all sizes and verticals. Collaboration tools, text processors, and spreadsheets offered as a service are sometimes preferred to their native counterparts, as they save on deployment and maintenance. As companies leap from native apps to virtualized services, browser security and compatibility will become more important than ever.

Vendor security – something you should keep an eye on

Supply chain attacks have diversified in 2017 as highly-skilled threat actors breached trustworthy vendors to reach their user base. High-profile incidents such as GoldenEye – which used the update services of Ukrainian billing and accounting software provider MeDoc to disseminate a data wiping ransomware – and the recent compromise of CCleaner to target technology providers, show once again how important internal code audits are to the security of the users.

GDPR will change the way we tackle data security

The General Data Protection Regulations take effect by May 2018, obliging businesses to comply with new requirements or risk a fine of four percent of their annual revenue. To comply, businesses the world over need to identify any data that falls under GDPR control, document how this data is secured, and create comprehensive policies around privacy rules and rights.

Endpoint Security – a constant cause for concern

Any discussion of security and the Internet must include endpoint security itself. In 2017, cyber-criminals have released an average of seven million new pieces of malware a month. Most spread via common attack avenues such as spammed e-mail messages. This puts incredible strain on an organization’s employees, as it only takes one mistake to open the network to attackers. In this context, deploying an effective security solution and investing in employee education and awareness should be top priorities for decision makers and IT security teams.