Page 18 - Security Today, December 2017

What’s Trending for 2018 And will it be good for your business . . . or not?
BTy Fredrik Nilsson
echnology is perpetual motion personified. It is always marching forward, striving to become smarter, faster, more resilient, and more efficient than its predecessor. The same holds true for emerging trends that are re- shaping our future. The question is: Will this unstop-
pable momentum sweep your business forward or leave it trampled in the dust? To determine that you need to understand where the security industry is trending and how you can adapt those innova- tions to your advantage. You’ll need to consider such things as how these trends might affect your business and whether you can live with short-term disruption for the promise of long-term gain.
All trends have consequences. The five trends that will be domi- nating 2018 are no exception. Will their impact will be good for busi- ness or bad? Ultimately only you can decide.
The Internet of Things: We are All Interconnected
IoT has essentially changed the world’s concept of the “workplace” forever. The office is no longer defined by four walls or the workday by time zones. The ubiquitous use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices makes it possible for users to log onto the corporate network, vendors’ networks, even strategic business partners’ net- works, at any time and from any place.
For the security industry, IoT connectivity began with the first network camera, which opened the door to remote monitoring and remote maintenance. Now the variety of security systems sharing the corporate network includes IP access control systems, IP-based in- tercoms and IP-based intelligent audio systems all taking their place alongside network surveillance systems and sophisticated analytics. This trend can be a double edged sword, however.
On the one hand, each new device, each new piece of software or firmware integrated through the network presents an opportunity to increase capabilities while streamlining operations and improving situational awareness. On the other hand, it requires a greater depth of knowledge to properly integrate systems and derive the most ben- efit from them. Furthermore, every addition to the network increases the number of entry points that hackers might exploit.
Cybersecurity: The Cautionary Side of Interconnectivity
This brings us to the second trend: the IoT ecosystem necessitates ever-greater cybersecurity. Ignore this new reality at your own peril, or in the case of the massive Equifax cyber breach, at the potential peril of about 143 million people.
To mitigate risks in this kind of an open ecosystem, you need all the vendors operating off the same cyber security playbook. This
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1217 | SECURITY TODAY
SECURITY TRENDS