Suspect devices
As more IP-based appliances are introduced into the workplace and home environments, enabling a better-connected, more efficient world, it also gives criminals a better connected, more efficient network for launching attacks. We need to protect devices, as well as protecting ourselves from these devices as more and more of them come online. Wearables and 'companion devices' that connect to tablets and smartphones are already infiltrating networks – and companies need to be ready for the impact of these.
Safeguarding SDN
SDN (software-defined networking) can boost security by routing traffic through a gateway and IPS, dynamically reprogramming and restructuring a network that is suffering a distributed denial-of-service attack, and enabling automatic quarantining of endpoints or networks that have been infected with malware.
However, security is not built into the SDN concept; it needs to be designed in. As it is being increasingly adopted in data centres, we expect to see targeted attacks that try to exploit SDN central controllers to take over the network and bypass network protections.
Unifying layers of security
Single-layer security architectures, or multi-vendor point solutions no longer offer effective protection to organisations. We will see more and more vendors introducing unified, single-source solutions to the market through development, partnership and acquisition. This is already happening, and we will see increasing collaboration to fight threats.
Cloud cover
With the growth in usage of SaaS, we predict increasing adoption and use of Security-as-a-Service solutions to provide visibility and control, threat prevention and data protection. This adoption will increase together with growth in security services outsourced to the public cloud.
Evolution in threat intelligence and analysis
No single organisation can have a complete picture of the threat landscape. Big data will give tremendous opportunities for threat analytics, enabling identification of new attack patterns. Vendors will increasingly integrate intelligence from these analytics into their solutions – and enterprises will also invest in their own analytics to help with decision-making through enhanced context and awareness of threats to their business.
Collaborative sharing of threat intelligence will continue to develop, to offer up-to-date protections that suit end-users' specific needs. These capabilities will in turn power unified security solutions that can automatically deliver protection against newly emerging threats, strengthening organisations' security.
- Keith Bird is the UK Managing Director of Check Point
