2017: The Year Encryption Goes Wild

2017: The Year Encryption Goes Wild

Wow, another year goes by with even more monumental data breaches. Believe what you want about the election, the DNC hacks, the latest Yahoo breach revelation and the numerous other data thefts put even more business decision-makers in fear for their own company’s technology security. Leadership’s historical response to breaches has continued to be higher walls and wider moats. Maybe it’s time for a different (and maybe more affordably efficient) approach.

My prediction is 2017 will be the year Encryption Goes Wild – as in wider use by more enterprises, more users, and in more applications.  There have been some nice inroads over the past few years at better encryption for personal chat, but the record for these exact tools’ migration and deployment into the enterprise is abysmal. The scope of enterprise chat, messaging, and file sharing has completely different requirements from how you message your buddy or spouse with dinner plans.

The reasons encryption goes wild in 2017 are (1) enterprise user security fatigue means they regularly and repeatedly take unadvised technology risks in the spirit of “I need to get my job done,” (2) leadership team anxiety continues to grow from swelling, yet suspect effective, security budgets, (3) the growing realization by most IT professionals that the game has changed from “if we get hacked” to “when we got/get hacked,” and (4) encryption is the most affordable way to secure information both outside and inside the firewall.

Encryption technology has historically been something that only the most technical software engineers and developers discussed, but more and more it comes up in daily conversation and has become a front-and-center business opportunity. In 2017, encryption will go wild.

Encrypt everything

These days, most everyone in the enterprise deals with encryption at some level. Whether by ensuring they have a secure connection to an email server or that https is included in a website address, a majority of people wouldn’t argue against the fact that security is important. But while these practices are all good, they don’t address the wider issue.

Even though a hosted connection or a server might be secure, the company data hosted on the server is now at the mercy of the service provider. Similarly, when companies use a cloud-hosted group chat tool, that provider’s servers can collect, store and even analyze company data to learn about their customers. Even on-premise servers present a risk because insider threats are a legitimate possibility. In fact, the Ashley Madison hack and the NSA breach were both insider jobs.

In order to better protect from both internal and external threats, companies are realizing that end-to-end encryption is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessary safeguard against an almost inevitable breach. More and more services are offering end-to-end encryption, and we’re going to see this grow exponentially in the coming years.

Email for Internal Discussions is Showing its Age

Anyone familiar with the security industry knows that the history of end-to-end encrypted email is not pretty. No one has been able to successfully deploy any usable, fully encrypted email service, yet it’s the tool that businesses use most to communicate and collaborate on important documents. For many CIOs, this translates to more spending on firewalls and other external safeguards to reduce the risk of a breach. With rising awareness of the importance of encryption, however, companies are moving to alternative types of communication and file-sharing tools to protect their businesses.

Enterprise-deployable, end-to-end encrypted software that can be properly scaled is few and far between, but in 2017, we’ll continue to see more technology companies announcing secure software for the enterprise to address this need. Secure collaboration software, storage servers and chat tools are already gaining strong user bases. While email won’t ever be fully replaced any time soon, its position as the primary means of sharing internal company data is being recognized for how unsecure it is, and email usage is already declining.

Being a black hat becomes harder to hack

So a company has now ensured nearly all employee activity is done on fully encrypted applications, eliminated employee use of unsanctioned tools and reduced unnecessary spending on firewalls. Even in a scenario in which CIOs have rolled out every secure, deployable, verifiable encryption tool, a determined hacker can still find a weakness to exploit.

However, once they are able to infiltrate the system, they’ll find all services use end-to-end encryption, and that the only avenue for them is to try to breach a user’s end point. With this model, the only way a hacker can achieve a large-scale breach is to compromise nearly every single end point in the organization.

As a hacker, this raises some questions: How do I get into a network, have no one realize and compromise every device with no one noticing? This is even more difficult and time-consuming at scale, and there are no longer quick wins of getting all the information a company has to offer. As more enterprises roll out fully end-to-end encrypted systems in the coming year, hackers will have a hard time accessing the information they want.

Tear down that wall

End-to-end encrypted email was proven to be completely unusable, and we as an industry have abandoned efforts to deploy it successfully. With that failure has come the realization that bulletproof, future-resistant encryption is not only achievable, its already in use today. We’ve proven we don’t need two-step verification or USB dongles to create an experience that’s both user-friendly and secure, and we’ve shown there are ways to avoid using unencrypted services like email—such as encrypted chat—and still succeed at our jobs.

Rather than focusing on “building a wall” to secure their companies, CIOs that want to reduce risk should focus on using apps and tools that offer to fully encrypt corporate data – without storing keys – so that there are fewer security weaknesses to safeguard against in the first place.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Security Risks for U.S. Retail Chains

    Interface Systems, a provider of security, actionable insights, and purpose-built networks for multi-location businesses, has released its 2024 State of Remote Video Monitoring in Retail Chains report. The detailed study analyzed over 2 million monitoring requests across 4,156 retail locations in the United States from September 2023 to August 2024. Read Now

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening. 3

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure. 3

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis. 3