The Future of Cybersecurity

The field of cybersecurity has witnessed a meteoric rise from the niche market it once was to its current place at the forefront of public awareness surrounding the nature and necessity of keeping technology secure. Recent years have even seen some demonstrations of techniques from the legendary black hat forums being reported in the mainstream press. Among the more alarming demonstrations of security flaws have been the revelations that both cars and hospital equipment are being shipped to consumers with only the bare minimum of inbuiltsecurity – if they have any at all.

As we move towards a more interconnected society and the myriad electronic devices around us increasingly communicate with one another, the possibilities for nefarious hijacking and manipulation of these communications increases. The effects of such intrusions were once limited to antagonizing the relatively small portion of the population connected to the internet. Now, however, there is a very real possibility of serious real-world consequences arising from malicious cyber intrusions. As such, the cybersecurity industry is flourishing.

Big Data

Cloud storage is now so ubiquitous that many of us are using it without ever making the conscious decision to register for a particular service. From the perspective of consumers and businesses, cloud storage offers previously unthinkable convenience and ease of use when remote access to files is required.

Big data is so important in this day and age that many of the top businesses are now choosing to employ data scientists to help them understand what their analytics is telling them.  Data science jobs are becoming more commonplace and Merrimack Data Science degrees are also becoming more popular.  With the ability to understand and analyze data, job seekers have plenty of career options available to them.

iCloud Hack

A series of intrusions a couple of years ago into the iCloud photo libraries of a number of celebrities and high-profile figures, revealed the inevitable downside of using such storage, as well as highlighting the ease with which a determined party can gain access to password protected systems.

Increasingly, cybersecurity engineers are finding that they have to advise clients about the social engineering aspects of hacking, as well as cybersecurity. With more of our personal data being stored online than ever, this is likely to remain one of the key focus points for cybersecurity professionals in the coming years.

The Internet of Things

The big names in tech: Facebook, Google et al. are all gearing up to produce and market a variety of everyday products which are connected to the internet in some way or another. These range from Dash buttons that the online retail giant is already selling, which automatically order certain products through your Amazon account, to Google’s plans for children’s toys that are connected to the web. Having these products connected to the internet means that security patches can be issued quickly and applied automatically, but they also open up previously unimagined realms of possibility when it comes to cyber intrusions.

An Evolving Field

Cybersecurity is a constantly evolving field, mirroring the constantly evolving nature of the threats it has to counter. As time goes on, it seems that cybersecurity will play an increasingly prominent role in our day to day lives, which may well be a good thing in the long run. The greater the awareness of the dangers posed by lax security, the easier it will be for professionals to encourage best practice among their clients.