EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically altered our world in unanticipated and unprecedented ways. When it comes to cyber security, the pandemic has driven new cyber security risks, and also brought forth new opportunities.

Across the past year, many security practitioners rethought what it meant to secure businesses. We’ve seen major security shifts. Emphasis on the highest level of simple and integrated security took center stage. Organizations sought out the best threat prevention measures possible and gold-standard security.

But, despite strong advances in security, the attackers continue to launch successful attacks. What can CISOs expect to see in the year ahead?

Here’s what security experts have to say…

  1. “Trust is going to be a key consideration in all aspects of cyber security; physically and digitally. We need to look at risk management differently, and start thinking in terms of trust management. Trust enables safety, security, and privacy. Trust is key – whether it’s building relationships with your team, your security partners, and especially your interaction with technology. Trust is the basis upon which all security strategies need to be built.” – CISO Cindi Carter, Check Point Software
  2. “Lack of supply chain security controls will accelerate in creating operational nightmares for security teams. It will be the initial entry point of compromise that will continue to cause havoc in terms of both mitigation (prevention) and remediation” – Vice President, North America Engineering, Jeff Schwartz, Check Point Software
  3. “In 2022, I can see cyber criminals continuing to harvest the low-hanging fruit, as it’s their predictable income. Beyond that, they will keep pace with society’s response to the pandemic. Medical, research, shipping (land, air, and sea) and manufacturing will be prime targets for disruption and compromise” –Keely Wilkins, Security Engineer, Check Point Software
  4. “In the cloud, virtually everything has an identity…operationalizing continuous zero-trust Access Control for all identities with access to cloud data will be the #1 priority for CISOs.” –Grant Asplund, Growth Technologies Evangelist, Check Point Software
  5. “Due to all the current and continually unaddressed issues: Lack of trained staff, tools that don’t work together, unpatched systems, poor email protection, lack of comprehensive cloud security, and lack of budget and priority…Small and Medium businesses will still be increasingly impacted. Until our society gets frustrated with spending billions dealing with security incidents, we will continue to suffer from breaches and ransomware incidents. Collectively we are willing to mostly ignore risks and pay the price.” – CISO Pete Nicoletti, Check Point Software
  6. “The pandemic has driven a surge in e-commerce activities, as people have stayed home and ordered everything via the internet; games, blenders, clothing…etc. A lot of people have contended with eSkimming malware, which a negative consumer experience and is a bad look for businesses. This situation exemplifies how we need to improve our e-Commerce security.” – Anonymous
  7. “Continued increase in activity and crypto becoming a major focus from threat actors. Consumers of crypto could see loss of coins; security of wallets…etc., will come into question as this becomes more mainstream.” –Head of Engineering, East, Mark Ostrowski, Check Point Software
  8. “Threat actors will surprise us! Just last year we had double, then triple extortion ransomware. We will be surprised again, so a prevention-first, zero trust policy *that works* will be every CISO’s highest priority.” –Edwin Doyle, Global Cyber Security Strategist, Check Point Software

In summary

This upcoming year will bring security into sharp focus. In 2020, mass-migration to remote digital ecosystems and the expanded attack surface represented the technological priority within many organizations. In 2021, fine-tuning and adjustment of newly upgraded digital ecosystems started to take shape. In 2022, even closer scrutiny of end-to-end implementation of cyber security architecture and best practices will ensue.

“The challenge we have to solve right now is much bigger than it was two years ago,” says Check Point Software’s CEO Gil Shwed. And “…the challenge two years ago was big enough.”

If you’re in the midst of planning your 2022 cyber security roadmap, see CyberTalk’s strategic coverage. Lastly, please join us at the premiere cyber security event of the year – CPX 360 2022. Register here.

Finally, thank you to all of our dedicated CyberTalk.org readers! We are grateful for your continued readership and we look forward to continuing to provide you with timely, informative, and cutting-edge resources in 2022. See you soon!