As we approach 2024, cybersecurity experts from AT&T Cybersecurity share their predictions for the year ahead. Theresa Lanowitz emphasizes the importance of granular endpoint management, Bindu Sundaresan discusses the continued rise of Cyber Security as a Service (CSaaS), and Mary Blackowiak highlights the significance of endpoint security in the context of a distributed workforce. These insights shed light on the evolving landscape of cybersecurity in the coming year.
Theresa Lanowitz, Head of Evangelism at AT&T Cybersecurity - former Gartner Analyst
"In a world of edge computing comprised of diverse and intentional endpoints, it is important for the SOC to know the precise location of the endpoint, what the endpoint does, the manufacturer of an endpoint, whether or not the endpoint is up to date with firmware, if the endpoint is actively participating is computing or if it should be decommissioned, and host of other pieces of pertinent information. Edge computing expands computing to be anywhere the endpoint is – and that endpoint needs to be understood at a granular level.
In 2024, expect to see startups provide solutions to deliver granular detail of an endpoint including attributes such as physical location, IP address, type of endpoint, manufacturer, firmware/operating system data, and active/non-active participant in data collection. Endpoints need to be mapped, identified, and properly managed to deliver the outcomes needed by the business. An endpoint cannot be left to languish and act as an unguarded point of entry for an adversary.
In addition to granular identification and mapping of endpoints, expect to see intentional endpoints built to achieve a specific goal such as ease of use, use in harsh environments, energy efficiency. These intentional endpoints will use a subset of a full-stack operating system. SOCs will need to manage these intentional endpoints differently than endpoints with the full operating system.
Overall, look for significant advancements in how SOCs manage and monitor endpoints."
Bindu Sundaresan, Director at AT&T Cybersecurity
“With budgets tightening across the board and competition for a limited pool of IT and security talent growing fiercer, cyber as a service providers have become an optimal solution for many companies. I predicted this in 2023, and the same theme rings true for the coming year. Over the last year, cybersecurity has become an increasingly important aspect of doing business, with more and more companies falling victim to cyber-attacks each year. As a result, many businesses are turning to Cyber Security as a Service (CSaaS) solutions to protect themselves and their customers from cyber threats.
CSaaS is a subscription model that offers organizations cybersecurity protection on demand. CSaaS can help organizations reduce the cost of ongoing security investments while allowing businesses to focus on what’s really important to them. In response, knowing they can count on their partners to focus on specific vectors, internal security teams can concentrate on their core missions. This could be high-priority or critical items within security or something completely outside of cyber that simply needs more attention at a given time. Most importantly, the flexibility of CSaaS allows the services utilized to change over time and be periodically realigned to ensure the customer’s business needs are being met.”
Mary Blackowiak, Director of Product Management and Development at AT&T Cybersecurity
“Digital transformation continues to rapidly evolve and despite some return to office initiatives, the workforce remains vastly distributed. Given these factors, I expect endpoint security will be a major focus for organizations in 2024. The dispersed nature of today's workforce amplifies the complexity of safeguarding against cyber threats, with a glaring challenge being the lack of visibility into the multitude of devices accessing organizational networks. The good news is that there are solutions to this dilemma.
The difficulty in effectively protecting what you can't see remains a fundamental principle in the cybersecurity industry, which is why the first step in any endpoint security strategy should be conducting an inventory of all the devices that are accessing the network. This can be accomplished with a unified endpoint management (UEM) solution. Curated security policies via a UEM solution and endpoint security technologies can be applied once you know the kinds of devices you’re working with. Rogue asset discovery tools are also helpful for identifying endpoints behaving in a manner that would indicate malicious intent.
As we look ahead to 2024, organizations must understand that endpoint security is not just a necessity for risk reduction but a strategic investment in safeguarding the digital future.”