Business Security Trends and Technologies You Should Pay Attention to in 2017

You can never be too rich. Or too safe, for that matter. Unfortunately, these already impossible goals are made even harder to achieve by the number of threats lurking both from virtual and tangible world. Take into account that cybercriminal costs are projected to reach $2 trillion by 2019, and the damage done by real world attacks is even impossible to grasp and you will quickly realize that the danger is clear and present. Still, security industry is not giving up the game of cat and mouse. Let us take a look at some of its latest results.

Hardware Authentication

Username and passwords may be the most widespread authentication method, but that makes it neither the safest nor the most adequate solution available. Another method that goes one step further is baking authentication into the very hardware (Intel is currently implementing the Authenticate solution in its sixth-gen Core vPro processors). Namely, Authenticate system requires not only the two standard tokens such as password and username, but also what-you-have token or in other words the hardware the previous two tokens are used on.

App Wrappers

Business owners and IT teams have long ago realized that applying higher level of control over employees’ personally owned smartphones is not that easy. The solution to this burning issue has finally arrived in the form of various app wrappers. A number of vendors like Mocana, Apperian and Good Technology are offering software solutions that allow businesses to extend security measures from mobile devices to individual app level.

Pervasive Sandboxing

Some hacker attacks will sooner or later bypass traditional protection mechanisms – it’s just the way the world works. The best we can do in that case is to minimize the damage hackers can do. These days, this is entirely possible by using the pervasive sandboxing (content detonation). Namely, numerous security platforms include embedded capabilities to detonate executables and content in Virtual Machines and observe for indication of compromise. The results of threats detected in a sandboxed environment are compared to what is being observed on actual endpoints (processes, behaviors, etc.).

Virtual Fence

The fences are probably one of the least effective security measures in existence. No matter how high they are, they are always easy to breach, and, if anything, they serve more to expose the intruder than to keep him at bay. OmniTrax takes that into consideration and completely substitutes tangible fences with underground sensor cables that are able to detect anyone who breaches the secured perimeter. The cables are integrated with closed-caption TV cameras and additional software that sends instant alert messages to the system owner.

Beefed Up Business Security Systems

Of course, fences are not the only security elements that are undergoing transformation end being upgraded on daily basis. The key to creating unbreakable security systems is making all these beefed up elements work together. For example, advanced security cameras are capable of recording 960p videos, have a night vision mode and can detect motion which makes them a perfect couple with another necessary security element like security screen. All these distinct tech elements, like keycards, bio-metric fingerprint scanners, and cameras should be, of course, a part of a cohesive security system with firm employee procedures.

Crowd-sourced Breach Protection

Crowd-sourcing has been very effective in bringing various indie projects to life, and today, the same philosophy is making the difference in the security area as well. For example, Paolo Alto Network’s Wildlife platform has been using a cloud-based malware analysis environment that allows access to shared threat information to all the users that pay the subscription.

As we can see security industry hasn’t been sitting idle in the wake of all the mentioned threats. Are these measures enough? No. Are they a step in the right direction? Surely. Real life and cyber-criminal won’t be beaten in a day, but only one step at the time. Not perfect, but good enough.

October 10, 2016