A new cyber security landscape

Since the first Atos Digital Vision for Cyber Security was published in 2017, three aspects of the cyber world have changed significantly.

Firstly, with the introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the NIS (Network and Information Systems) Directive, the legal and regulatory environment has changed significantly and – alongside that – the National Cyber Security Centre has established itself as the touchstone for ‘what good looks like’ in all aspects of cyber security for the UK. Secondly, the threat landscape itself has evolved, with a number of major trends and attacks emerging; these have entered mainstream news and therefore the public psyche. Lastly, as we outline in our new Digital Vision, the tools to address these cyber threats are fast becoming ever more innovative, effective, affordable and available; for example, user and entity behavior analytics help to better understand what is happening on organizations’ networks.

Key lessons

So, what have cyber security specialists learned from these shifts? Firstly, most organizations still do not make adequately informed decisions about cyber risk: a risk-based approach must be based on monitoring and threat intelligence. Secondly, compromised static passwords continue to be a problem, as do increasingly targeted phishing emails. Thirdly, traditional virus protection software cannot cope with today’s viruses: behavioral and advanced threat protection techniques need to be adopted. Finally, security patching and security testing are now a priority, even where they impact live services.

Prescriptive security

The solutions to best leverage fast-developing cyber security capabilities and lessons learned since 2017 are applied through prescriptive security. In essence, this is about using advanced digital tools to fuse large volumes of incoming security data, with automation and artificial intelligence to make sense of all that data and auto-remediate wherever possible. From there, talented analysts can be freed up to look ahead and focus on newly identified threats. Clearly, effective cyber security relies not only on technology: human intelligence and insight are essential.

Digital Vision for Cyber Security 2

Atos’ Digital Vision for Cyber Security 2 brings you insights into the latest challenges and opportunities for business leaders and influencers – and the critical role of cyber security to underpin transformation and vital trust in our digital society.