Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2024. Read them in this 16th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Seven Reasons 2024 Will Be a Watershed Year for Digital Security
By Tim Callan, Chief Experience Officer for Sectigo
As we enter 2024, digital security stands at a pivotal juncture. New challenges emerge every year, but recent advancements in quantum computing and AI have raised the bar when it comes to cryptography and the technologies needed to safeguard identities online.
IT teams tasked with protecting an organization’s security will have to embrace agility, being ready to adapt and change at a moment’s notice. This is true with respect to a number of key developments and trends we expect to see and grow in 2024.
1. Quantum cryptography is now a mainstream boardroom discussion
Supported by NIST’s development of quantum-resistant encryption, quantum cryptography is no longer a buzzword. Instead, it will become a key focus for the C-Suite as organizations begin adapting to a stance of crypto-agility by transitioning to quantum resistant cryptography.
2. 2024 will determine whether AI is a new threat actor cybersecurity’s ultimate defense
A decisive showdown is set to unfold as both hackers and cybersecurity professionals are actively harnessing the power of AI to fortify their respective endeavors. In the 2024 this race will ultimately reveal whether AI stands as a potential menace or the most impactful emerging technology protecting our cybersecurity realm.
3. Deep fakes will undermine digital trust
2024 will be the year that the reliability of the digital record meets its demise as deep fakes fully undermine digital trust. Gone are the days when people could trust what they saw and heard. With the proliferation of deepfakes, every digital record, whether that be a photo, video or voice recording, could be a fake.
Given our current reliance on digital records within our legal, security and digital systems, without a solution, we will witness the crumbling of our systems that rely on biometrics to authenticate identity. Eventually all forms of recording devices will have a built-in encrypted timestamp, acting as a watermark at the time of capture. These encrypted watermarks must be built upon the only unimpeachable form of encryption, PKI, to separate authentic images from deepfakes and re-establish digital trust in images, videos, and recordings.
4. For digital security, it’s now all or nothing
Digital identities are everywhere, and they encompass all aspects of everyday life, anything short of full-scale security is inadequate. With this saturation, the days of unsecured digital systems are behind us. We are now in an everything-or-nothing era of either complete security or a rotting foundation.
5. RSA will come under siege as researchers crack shortcuts to decryption
Quantum computers stand to defeat RSA and ECC, and qualified researchers are putting energy into finding the strategies to most effectively do so. This research can piggyback on thinking about how to defeat RSA with a traditional computer as well. After all, any attacker with access to quantum computing will also have access to all the traditional architecture computing it needs.
In 2024 more shortcuts to cracking RSA will be discovered as an influx of academics compete to breach encryption. Although RSA is not expected to succumb, it will undoubtedly grapple with an immense amount of pressure.
6. Businesses will have the rug pulled from under them as certificate lifespans exponentially shrink
As the leading web browsers prepare to further reduce the lifespan of digital certificates, businesses are set to face a major challenge keeping up with the required cadence of replacement for the certificates that enable all digital processes and environments. 2024 is the year businesses will invest heavily in automated solutions so that they can be ready for the maximum term reductions to come.
7. Automation will continue to reshape every sector and business at all levels
Certificate automation is poised to mark another significant milestone, transcending its previous enterprise-level boundaries to redefine businesses and sectors of every size. The surge in automation will intricately weave together our already interconnected digital infrastructure, transforming it into a seamless entity of automated services.
The above trends are just a sample of the drastically fluid landscape that digital security professionals will have to adapt to in 2024 and beyond. Enterprises must strategize and act now, or they will be constantly susceptible to cyberthreats that continue to grow in both complexity and frequency.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Callan is Chief experience Officer of Sectigo, the leading provider of automated certificate lifecycle management and digital certificates.
