Ask The Experts : What Will Be The Biggest Cyber Security Story In 2020?

This month, we hear the experts’ cyber security predictions for 2020: new trends, new paradigms, and new themes to watch out for as the year progresses.

- Zane Lackey

CHANGING ROLE OF THE CISO

One of the biggest cybersecurity stories in 2020 will be the changing role of the chief Internet security officer (CISO). The imbalance of their work-life will continue to worsen and the role will need to change to meet the demands of the modern cyber-scape; for example becoming more of a strategic resource for the business on mitigating risk and facilitating business transformation safely.

This will be easier said than done as the majority of CISOs feel that while their work is appreciated by senior management teams, it is still yet to be seen as strategically valuable. Given the broader focus of senior business leaders to drive revenues and protect brand, cyber security is still not widely accepted as a strategic function. Only around half of CISOs feel executive teams value the security team from a revenue and brand protection standpoint and unfortunately almost 20% believe their board is indifferent to the security team, or sees them as an inconvenience. This perception will continue to have a tangible impact on the role of the CISO, potentially leading to more churn within the role and creating bigger gaps in security knowledge and coverage across the industry. — Stuart Reed, VP of cyber security, Nominet

BROADER IT LANDSCAPE, WIDER SECURITY GAPS

Cybersecurity is poised to continue as an even hotter topic in 2020, than it was in 2019. With an election year upon us, election security and protecting the integrity of our electoral systems will be front and center more than ever. However, I fully expect that the massively distributed IT reality we find ourselves in, with its explosion of unsecured exposure points will continue to dominate the daily headlines.