How will cybersecurity practices within businesses and other businesses evolve over the coming years? Analyst firm Gartner has provided its list of 8 predictions that assess the impact of major market trends such as generative AI, the growth of disinformation campaigns, increasing accountability of CISOs and persistent system non-compliance existing with zero trust principles.
The findings highlight a number of opportunities for organizations looking to strengthen their posture against threats in the years to come.
“As we begin to move beyond what is possible with GenAI, strong opportunities emerge to help solve a number of recurring issues affecting cybersecurity, particularly skills shortages and insecure human behavior” , said Gartner’s senior analyst. Deepti Gopalspeaking at Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit In Sydney.
“The biggest predictions this year are clearly not about technology, as the human element continues to get much more attention. Any CISO looking to build an effective and sustainable cybersecurity program should make it a priority.
Strategic Planning Assumptions for Cybersecurity Leaders
Gartner recommends that cybersecurity leaders incorporate the following strategic planning assumptions into their security strategies for the next two years.
1. By 2028, the adoption of GenAI will reduce the skills gap, removing the need for specialized training for 50% of entry-level cybersecurity positions.
GenAI will help organizations close the cybersecurity skills gap. Gartner said GenAI’s increases will change the way organizations hire and train cybersecurity workers in the future.
Recommendation: Cybersecurity teams should focus on internal use cases that support users in their work, coordinate with HR partners, and identify adjacent talent for more critical cybersecurity roles.
2. By 2026, companies combining GenAI with integrated platform-based architecture in security behavior and culture programs will experience 40% fewer employee-initiated cybersecurity incidents.
Cybersecurity is an essential part of the services that MSPs and MSSPs can offer to end customers. If you add GenAI to the mix, it has the potential to generate hyper-personalized content and training materials that take into account the unique attributes of each employee. This will increase the likelihood that employees will adopt more secure behaviors in their daily work, leading to fewer cybersecurity incidents.
Recommendation: Gartner recommends that organizations that have not adopted GenAI capabilities evaluate their service providers to understand how they leverage GenAI. This could represent an opportunity for MSPs and MSSPs who are most up-to-date with AI-enhanced training.
3. By 2026, 75% of organizations will exclude unmanaged, legacy, and cyber-physical systems from their Zero Trust strategies.
Under a zero trust strategy, users and endpoints receive only the access necessary to perform their jobs and are continuously monitored for evolving threats. In production or mission-critical environments, these concepts do not universally apply to unmanaged devices, legacy applications, and cyber-physical systems designed to perform specific tasks in unique environments focused on security and reliability.
This will slowly improve over the next couple of years. MSSPs and MSPs are well-positioned to help their clients assess these non-compliant systems and provide recommendations for improvement.
4. By 2027, two-thirds of the world’s 100 organizations will extend directors and officers (D&O) insurance to cybersecurity managers due to personal legal exposure.
New laws and regulations, such as the SEC’s Cybersecurity Disclosure and Reporting Rules, expose cybersecurity executives to personal liability. A key example is that of the former SolarWinds CISO who faces charges fraud and internal control failures linked to undisclosed cybersecurity risks. The roles and responsibilities of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) should be updated for associated reporting and disclosures.
Recommendation: Organizations should explore the benefits of covering the position with D&O insurance, as well as other insurance and indemnification, to mitigate personal liability, professional risk and legal costs.
5. By 2028, corporate spending to combat misinformation will exceed $500 billion, cannibalizing 50% of marketing and cybersecurity budgets.
The combination of AI, analytics, behavioral science, social media, the Internet of Things and other technologies allows malicious actors to create and distribute highly effective and personalized misinformation.
Recommendation: CISOs should define responsibilities for governance, design and execution of enterprise-wide anti-disinformation programs and invest in tools and techniques to combat the problem using chaos engineering to test resilience.
6. By 2026, 40% of identity and access management (IAM) leaders will have primary responsibility for detecting and responding to IAM-related breaches.
IAM leaders often struggle to articulate security and business value to drive accurate investments and are not involved in discussions about security resources and budgeting. Gartner says that as IAM leaders continue to grow in importance, they will move in different directions, each with increased accountability, visibility, and influence.
Recommendation: CISOs must break down traditional IT and security silos by giving stakeholders visibility into the role IAM plays in aligning IAM program and security initiatives.
7. By 2027, 70% of organizations will combine data loss prevention and internal risk management disciplines with the IAM context to more effectively identify suspicious behavior.
Growing interest in consolidated controls has prompted vendors to develop features that represent an overlap between controls focused on user behavior and data loss prevention. This introduces a more comprehensive set of capabilities allowing security teams to create a single, dual-purpose policy for data security and insider risk mitigation.
Recommendation: Organizations should identify data and identity risks and use them in tandem as a primary directive for strategic data security.
8. By 2027, 30% of cybersecurity functions will reimagine application security to be used directly by non-cybersecurity experts and owned by application owners.
The volume, variety, and context of applications created by enterprise technologists and distributed delivery teams generate the potential for exposure far beyond what dedicated application security teams can manage.
Recommendation: To bridge this gap, cybersecurity functions must develop effective minimum expertise within these teams, using a combination of technology and training to generate only the competence necessary to autonomously make informed cyber risk decisions. .
Gartner Research Tour
Gartner Analysts Present Latest Research and Advice for Security and Risk Management Leaders at Show Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in Sydney, Australia, this week. The next Gartner Security and Risk Management Summits will take place June 3-5 in National Harbor, Maryland; July 24 to 26 in Tokyo; and from September 23 to 25 in London.
