In the last several months millions of credit card numbers have been lost in data breaches.  Personal health records have been lost and millions of user IDs and logins have slipped through the fingers of those entrusted to protect them.  The loot that is targeted and collected by mal-intending hackers can also include intellectual property.  Losing intellectual property is immediately significant, the loss of reputation and customer trust slowly trickle away.  These statements are pretty obvious to those that follow the news and are aware of at a minimum level the big name incidents that hit the wire, like Target and Neiman Marcus, but it indeed is something that is going on all the time.

A report from HP Research released prior to this year’s RSA conference stated that cybersecurity spending reached $46 billion in 2013 alone, a trend that is on a rapid pace upwards.  It sounds like the industry is doing the right thing looking at those numbers alone, so it is in stark contrast that the same report cites a 20 percent uptick in breaches and even further rising costs in dealing with them.

Yesterday we briefly discussed data-centric security.  Right now it’s the best answer to a rising threat in a situation where despite continued record levels of investment, the battle for security is being lost.  It’s still early on for this type of security practice still, so it’s something to watch.  There are always ways for adversaries to get in, many times unnoticed and do the things they are going to do: infiltrate, spy, copy, damage.  Increasingly organizations are having to look beyond the edge of the network for something better, something responsive, something that is aware.

The classic structures of network security, strengthening, hardening, locking out adversaries are static in nature.  It’s always been said that standards just give hackers a framework of what to work around, and that’s the sad truth of what constitutes those increases behind the scenes.  Hackers are becoming more sophisticated, better organized, better funded and the attacks get more daring each and every day.  ­­

Predictive security a national security matter

The Director of National Intelligence puts cyber security at the top of the list of national priorities in terms of threats that face this country.  That’s the second year in a row and it puts the concern ahead of weapons of mass destruction, espionage and even terrorism.  This is protection, not the controversial surveillance programs, and all the three letter organizations are moving to predictive approaches rather than reactive.  That will mean technology, policy and people.  Technology to achieve this state of predictive awareness, policies that reinforce the capabilities of technology, and training of people with access and responsibilities within the system.  It’s a model of security that organizations should widely seek to adopt.  Many cybersecurity products and services are emerging with incredible developments in the field of defense technologies.  Real-time defense capabilities, intelligence gathering and next-gen offensive security are on the rise and represent a coming wave.

This government transition echoes a recent historical and rising shift in the industry to proactive systems and more proactive policies in response to continued escalating cyber incidents.  Further along this very same spectrum, we’re seeing more predictive security answer the questions of awareness, of predicting problems before they become problems.  You see, predictive security means isolating not hallmarks of a breach, but behavior that could indicate such activity is happening.  It’s what we see covered in the latest SIEM and machine data analytics developments from companies like Splunk, Sumo Logic, HP’s ArcSight and Autonomy division, and more.   The best money in security spending today is spent on these types of systems.  That’s a fact and opinion at the same time.  Proactive and predictive approach is the cutting edge of security today. We are tracking stories from around the industry on how these solutions are changing the game, turning the tables on hackers and we’re doing it right here on SiliconANGLE.

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