“The scope and pace of information security threats is jeopardizing the veracity and reputation of today’s most reliable organizations,” says Steve Durbin, managing director of the ISF. “In 2018, we will see increased sophistication in the threat landscape with threats being personalized to their target’s weak spots or metamorphosing to take account of defenses that have already been put in place. These days, the stakes are higher than ever before.”
Growing with the number of data breaches will be the volume of compromised records, Durbin says. Because of this, next year’s attacks will be far more expensive for organizations of all sizes. Traditional areas, such as network clean-up and customer notification, will account for some of these costs, but additional costs will arise from newer areas, such as litigation involving a growing number of parties, Durbin says. The ISF predicts angry customers will pressure governments to introduce tighter data protection legislation, with concomitant costs.
Driving this trend will be the following top five global security threats that businesses will face in 2018, according to the ISF:
•Crime-as-a-service (CaaS) will expand available tools and services.
•The internet of things (IoT) will further add unmanaged risks.
•The supply chain will remain the weakest link in risk management.
•Regulation will add to the complexity of critical asset management.
•Unmet board expectations will be exposed by major incidents.
