Strategic Intelligence: Cybersecurity

Strategic Intelligence: Cybersecurity

Summary

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents a potentially bright future for cybersecurity professionals, one in which the signals of a cyberattack can be spotted, deciphered, and responded to before the attack even occurs. However, the prospect of offensive attacks using AI is also ramping up. A simple example is cybercriminals using generative AI to strengthen phishing attacks. It is also increasingly likely that AI agents will be used to carry out cyberattacks independently and at scale. Simultaneously, AI will increase the threat of ransomware attacks by automating the stages of the attack and adapting code instantly to reach the intended targets.

Key Highlights

• The world is heavily involved in cyberwarfare, known as the ‘grey zone’ in military circles. Cyberattacks from state actors, terrorists, hacktivists, and opportunistic cybercriminals will increase due to heightened geopolitical tensions, and businesses will inevitably be affected. Companies operating critical national infrastructure (CNI) are particularly at risk, as the goals of such attacks are often to gain intelligence or disrupt essential state functions. A notable example of this is Volt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored cyber operation primarily targeting the US with a focus on espionage, data theft, and credential access.
• A quantum computer could crack the codes used to encrypt the online world. This poses a novel and significant threat to the foundations of cybersecurity, rendering many current encryption methods obsolete. However, all is not lost, as the cybersecurity industry works to develop quantum-resistant encryption, with both the US and UK governments aiming for migration to post-quantum cryptography by 2035. In the meantime, governments, public bodies, and businesses must be able to protect their existing stored data, a process that could take 20 years.

• This report provides an overview of the cybersecurity theme.
• It identifies the key trends impacting growth of the theme over the next 12 to 24 months, split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
• It includes comprehensive industry analysis, including market size forecasts for cybersecurity and a timeline highlighting milestones in the development of cybersecurity.
• The detailed value chain is split into three main areas: hardware, software, and services. The hardware segment includes chip-based security. The software segment includes identity management, network security, endpoint security, threat detection and response, cloud security, data security, email security, application security, unified threat management, and vulnerability management. The services segment includes managed security services, post-breach response services, and risk and compliance services.

• Cybersecurity is one of the most fertile and fast-moving areas of technology. New exploits are developed daily, and organizations worldwide repel hundreds of attacks each week. This report provides an invaluable guide to this extremely disruptive theme. It includes comprehensive lists of the leading players across all aspects of the cybersecurity value chain, helping companies identify the right partners.
• The report also includes a guide to the major threat actors and looks at the main types of cyberattacks, from untargeted attacks like phishing to targeted attacks like distributed denial of service (DDoS).