Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2015. Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed article by Mike Malloy, EVP of products and strategy at Webroot
2015: The Year of the Cloud Attack
Several cyber takedowns occurred this year when hackers infiltrated
Home Depot, Michaels, iCloud, JP Morgan and the list just goes on. And while
consumers and companies have been hit hard in 2014, 2015 will be the year of
the cloud attack.
According to a recent IDC report,
almost 90 percent of Internet spending (including mobile apps, big data and
social media) will be on cloud-based technologies over the next six years.
While many companies are making the leap to the cloud, securing the
cloud remains an ongoing challenge for IT departments. Smart cyber criminals
know where the holes reside and view this space as a big target.
In 2015, a major cloud provider will be breached, compromising many of
their customers' data and in turn leaving hundreds of thousands of individuals
vulnerable to follow-on threats. Following the breach, I predict the following
will occur:
1.
U.S. Congress will step up efforts to legislate
better security protection in public clouds.
2.
Consumer and
shareholder outrage will lead to the sacking of several CEO's and CISO's and force
the creation of internal cybersecurity task forces.
3.
Enterprises will recognize the benefits of cloud-based
malware protection as well as cloud-based cyber attacks.
4.
Enterprises, government agencies and security
vendors will begin to develop more effective collaboration and cooperation to
combat the wave of cyber crime and cyber warfare.
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About the
Author
Mike
Malloy is responsible for providing strategic and tactical direction to
Webroot's product and business organizations. Malloy brings to Webroot more
than 30 years of leadership experience with technology and financial services
firms. Before joining Webroot, Malloy was vice president of marketing and sales
for New Relic, where he was responsible for a tenfold increase in the company's
customer base in a two-year period. Malloy previously held executive management
roles for several leading companies including Wily Technology (now part of CA),
where as chief marketing officer and senior vice president of product
development he launched 35 new products and six major revisions of the
company's flagship product.