Five New Security Trends Relevant To Your Business

Cyber security is becoming a major priority across all industries, as enterprises seek out technologies and tactics to protect their data from increasingly sophisticated threats, according to CB Insights' NExxTT Framework: Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity Report. 

While some trends, including container security and software defined networking have seen great interest and adoption, a number of emerging cybersecurity trends fall into an "experimental" category, representing conceptual or early-stage trends with few functional products that have not yet reached widespread adoption, the report found. 

However, these trends have sparked proof-of-concept work, and companies should be on the lookout for their spread in the future. Here are five experimental cybersecurity trends businesses should pay attention to: 

1. Disinformation Defense
Information warfare, including the rise of DeepFakes, represents a threat to societal and political systems worldwide. Now, new technologies are emerging to fight this digital deception, including those that authenticate digital media at scale, the report noted. 

"People are already confusing fact and fiction; however, the technologies behind the spread of disinformation and deception online are still in their infancy, and the problem of authenticating information is only starting to take shape," the report stated. 

2. Open Source Security
Enterprises are increasingly adopting open source software, which also increases the risk of exposure to open source security vulnerabilities, according to CB Insights. However, new tools on the market can help secure open source code so developers and companies can reap its benefits. 

"Startups are already rising to help secure the open-source software market, which analysts estimate to be worth around $14B today," the report stated. "Look out for companies that are developing systems for continuously monitoring open-source application dependencies and those that let analysts quickly respond when new vulnerabilities are disclosed." 

3. Zero-Knowledge Proofs
Zero-knowledge proofs represent a breakthrough in data privacy, allowing multiple parties to confirm that they have knowledge of confidential information, without actually revealing that information, according to the report. 

"A zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) is an authentication scheme that enables ultra-secure communications and private financial transactions and file sharing," the report stated. "The technology also eliminates the need to exchange passwords, and theoretically could reduce the number of data breaches from stolen login credentials."

Applying ZKP to cryptocurrency could lead to advances in privacy as well, the report noted. While the technology remains computationally expensive, experiments are underway in industries including finance and pharmaceuticals, it added. 

4. Homomorphic Encryption 
Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is often called the holy grail of enterprise data security, as it keeps data secure while it is in use, according to the report. While in the past, HE has been computationally intensive and slow, advances in computer processing power are making it more usable, and businesses are now using the technology to analyze medical datasets, protect cloud data, and prevent data breaches, the report noted. 

"In the future, look for homomorphic encryption to play an important role in securing data in use across a multitude of industries," the report stated. 

5. Blockchain Security
Though some of the hype around Blockchain is dying.  However, blockchain security tools (also known as smart contract security) can secure enterprise blockchains that are in use from targeted attacks.

"Securing enterprise blockchain ecosystems and auditing smart contracts will become more important as institutions incorporate these technologies into critical business applications," the report stated. 

Whiles not all of the trends identifies by CBInsights may reach maturity, businesses will need to develop enterprisewide cultures of security governance and constantly monitor user access rights and device permissions for possible irregularities to stay ahead of proliferating and powereful security threats.

TechRepublic:        CBInsights:     Forbes: 

You Might Also Read:

The Attack Surface Is Growing Faster Than Ever:

Five Tech Trends Driving Cyber Security: