Communications services provider Level 3 Communications has picked out the top three themes of this year’s RSA Conference. As explained in a video by the company’s Global Security Services SVP, Chris Richter, the event revolved around malware, security costs, and cyber education.
Malware has certainly been a concern of Microsoft’s, with the high-profile brand having launched its new Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, an IT security platform aimed at the enterprise level that uses sophisticated big data analysis to detect potential IT threats. Richter, meanwhile, is most excited about the emergence of “deceptive technology”, which implants decoy data into devices as a means of diverting hack attacks from real targets.
As to security costs, they’re rising; Richter asserts that a decade ago, companies’ dedicated about three to six percent of their IT budgets to security, whereas now the average is 17 percent. That is undoubtedly a concern, but it likely matches the reality that sensitive data is increasingly becoming digitized; and meanwhile, the costs of more sophisticated digital security technologies such as biometric access control systems have generally been decreasing.
Finally, Richter highlights the need for better education on digital threats for individuals. The rise of BYOD culture and even the everyday use of unsecured wearables poses a potential threat to enterprise data; and indeed, even the White House has been pushing more aggressive education on digital security, given the rise of digital threats. Fortunately, in this area too, biometric security is becoming increasingly popular through mass market systems like Windows Hello, helping to improve the digital security awareness – or, at least, the security – of huge numbers of users around the world.
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March 4, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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