Cyber security is the process of safeguarding computer networks and systems from hardware damage or data theft. In this era of increasing tech dominance it has become essential to the smooth running of everything from the financial system to the healthcare one

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That has turned it into a massive global business. A recent Fortune Business Insights study estimated that the cyber security industry will be worth $376.32 billion by the end of this decade.

The biggest reason for the growth is the rise in e-commerce, with that driving a need for ever-greater online security. E-commerce is not the only significant factor influencing the industry though.

Increased Corporate Cyber Security Focus

(Business data security concerns)

More businesses are transferring sizeable parts of their operations to the digital space now. This means that it is not just e-commerce retail companies that have serious need of cyber security.

Businesses in practically every field are now storing large amounts of data online. That means data related to their internal workings, such as accounts and employee information, as well as personal and financial data from customers.

Consumers accept the requirement to provide such data over the internet as the price of digital convenience. A PwC study called ‘Consumer Intelligence Series: Trusted Tech Report’ found that 76% regarded handing over such data as a necessity.

However 84% said that they would stop using a company if they did not feel that they could trust in its cyber security. This new willingness among the public to abandon businesses with inadequate data protection measures in place is one of the biggest trends emerging within the sector.

It is certainly not the sole one though.

Further Developing Cyber Security Trends

(Remote working data risks)

These are some of the factors that are expected to impact the cyber security industry within the next few years.

• The need to ensure remote working security

A report that was produced by the freelance website Upwork estimated that more than 35 million people in the US will have adopted remote working within the next three years. That is a rise of 87% compared with the figure for 2019 and new cyber security tools to make remote data transfers more secure will be vital.

We are already seeing these starting to appear, including the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) technology offered by companies like Perimeter 81. This is a cloud-centered security solution that pulls together the Zero Trust and FWaaS services for network security with wide area networking (WAN).

It allows companies to restrict remote working access to sensitive data and resources based on things like group or user identity, to ensure greater security. SASE also puts all resources for a company – from its cloud data to different offices and data centers – under a single network, to make the management of it easy.

The emergence of solutions like SASE over the past three years is certainly meeting a need. Research by AT & T last year found that more than half of all people who work remotely were guilty of letting members of their families use devices with work information on them.

That creates the potential for data breaches and shows that companies and employees are still grappling with remote working security questions.

• The increase in targeted ransomware

This is a form of malicious software (malware) that steals sensitive data from a company or individual and uses it as leverage for extortion. It is the latest development in ransomware and victims generally get e-notes telling them that they must pay before they can access their network or documents again.

It is one of the most serious types of cyber crime in the US right now. Individuals and businesses here account for 11% of all targeted ransomware attacks and criminals are making billions from them.

All of that means tools to tackle the problem must be the next frontier in cyber security.

• Advances in multi-factor authentication

Long seen as the cutting edge of security authentication, this denies users network or website access until they provide at least two pieces of evidence of their identities. However some forms of this – notably voice and SMS authentication – have been breached by hackers.

Authentication protocols are essential for ensuring that only people authorized to view sensitive data are able to. That is why new cyber authentication tools like Authy and Google Authenticator are starting to trend upwards in response to this threat.

• Rise of real-time data monitoring

Data breaches cost companies millions of dollars and the longer it takes to discover them, the higher the cost. Real-time data monitoring is a type of cyber security that reports on a company’s data in a constantly updating flow.

This allows IT departments to spot any discrepancies quickly, minimizing the impact of data breaches. A report by Deloitte found that it was responsible for uncovering around 70% of security breaches, so it has the potential to save companies significant amounts of both money and public goodwill.

Cyber security spending by businesses is expected to be more than $133 billion by the end of this year. More of the security budgets being put aside for real-time data monitoring is a trend that we should see starting to emerge.

These are the trends rising to the top of the cyber security agenda right now. From targeted ransomware to human error causing breaches, the industry has shown it can respond rapidly.