From State-0 to 2019: How Cyber Security Has Evolved in The Last 5 Years

As time goes by, more and more people are learning about the importance of securing their data online.

The recent attacks on big social networks have made a lot of people aware of cybersecurity matters. The most recent attacks on Facebook, which made the company admit that nearly 50 million users were targeted have made all stakeholders in the industry rethink data protection strategies. Indeed, the past five years have been hectic for internet users. There have been many high-profile attacks on financial institutions, social media companies, personal blogs and many other kinds of websites. This period has also seen the cybersecurity realm evolve drastically. Let us take a look at how the security realm has evolved over that time.

The State of Cybersecurity in 2015

In 2015, the Department of Information Technology in North Carolina gave statistics indicating that cyber attacks targeted at individuals and organizations were not uncommon. Indeed, the statistics showed that 80 percent of successful attacks were done with well-known exploits. This was the same situation elsewhere where attacks were not exactly sophisticated. Such attacks would have been prevented easily if people were informed about proper etiquette when using the internet. As simple as they were, the attacks of 2015 encouraged cybersecurity experts to put more emphasis on encouraging people to learn about simple internet usage tips and tricks.

The Complexity of Threats Increases

The evolution of cybersecurity has been as a result of evolving threats. For a long time, cyber threats were limited to basic attacks that target one computer device. In recent years though, the threats have become more advanced and they now target multiple devices and networks too. Cybersecurity has evolved to ensure that agility is part of the protection strategy. Most organizations are no longer relying on reactive methods when it comes to dealing with attacks. As noted by Gobestvpn, big organizations are formulating real-time solutions for attacks. This is especially so considering how attacks have recently proved to be lethal to organizations. Entire organizations have been forced to go under by big complicated threats.

The Change in tact by Organizations

In the early years of cybersecurity, the job of securing networks was left to the Information and Technology department. Each organization had a decent IT department that checked the networks and did simple tasks like installing security programs. The increase in threats has however forced modern organizations to rethink their approach. Considering how cyber threat intelligence is central to having a robust security system, every department is now involved in the cybersecurity process.

Cybersecurity has Become key to Innovation

Cybersecurity has also evolved significantly to a point where it is now leading the innovation. While security issues where peripheral in the past, they are now at the core of all decisions being made in the tech world. As a result of the quest to avoid attacks expeditiously, cybersecurity has allowed for the development of faster, more robust and seamless systems. This has, in turn, heralded a new era where the development of the next level of technological products is now possible. As networks get stronger, we will see more evolution in the internet of things (IoT) realm. This will ultimately bring about unprecedented evolution in the tech industry as a whole.

The State of Cybersecurity in 2018

All the developments that have taken place in the past several years have been preparing us for the present. We are now at a stage where systems are much more dependable than they were a number of years ago. The quicker, smarter and more robust systems have made it possible for various entities in the security realm to make efficient use of collected data. The incorporation of data in the fight against attacks has ultimately redefined what cybersecurity is all about. Nowadays, reports coming from the cyber realm are more about the insights than they are about simple analytics. This is because the data plays an important role in improving intelligence.

The Future of Cybersecurity

There is no doubt that cyber criminals will continue to devise new ways to attack organizations and individuals. The cybersecurity world will thus also continue to evolve. While the experts will continue to create faster systems, the most important job will now be ensuring that the information is out there. Many networks are still brought down by simple tactics which can be avoided if more people are aware of basic security tips.