Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2016.  Read them in this 8th Annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

Contributed by Richard Greene, CEO, Seculert

Prediction Will Emerge as the New Holy Grail of Security

The security landscape is constantly evolving and next year's outlook has even more changes in store. As cyber criminals become savvier with their technique and organizations' attack surfaces expand, we'll see companies start to use technology in new ways to revolutionize their approach to cybersecurity.

• Prediction will emerge as the new holy grail of security.

Up until 2014, the cybersecurity industry considered prevention to be their sole objective. Sophisticated enterprises then began to complement their prevention strategies with detection technologies to get the visibility on their infrastructure they lacked. In 2016, prevention will emerge as a new priority with machine learning becoming a key tool for organizations that want to anticipate where hackers will strike.

• The adversary is getting smarter.

Common cyber criminals will no longer be the most common threat. Sophisticated criminal gangs with modern organizational models and tools will emerge as the primary threat.  Besides being well funded these attackers have the luxury of time on their side, so they're able to develop more advanced techniques not yet anticipated by the cyber-defense community.

• Global governments have also come to realize they must have both cyber-defense and cyber-offense capabilities.

Public sector hackers will rarely attempt the kind of attack we saw in Ukraine this year, but we can expect a growing number of state v. state reconnaissance attacks as cyber "armies" research the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.

• Money is no longer the sole motivator.

Rather than hacking for just for financial gain, in 2016 we'll see cybercriminals infiltrate to cause physical damage. Hacktavist groups have already proven they are not motivated by money, but rather by a cause. When money is no longer the motivator, infrastructures, priceless artifacts and more are put at risk.

• Enterprises will be more vulnerable than ever as the Internet of Things expands the attack surface.

Anything that is connected to the Internet can be an attack surface. It's just a matter of time before you discover the Fitbit on your wrist or the thermostat connected to your WiFi can be used as the starting point to penetrate corporate and government networks.

• The CISO of the future will have a new and expanding role.

Their responsibilities will shift from managing tedious work cycles on uncovering, analyzing and reporting threats, to an elevated role where they must think proactively and strategically to ensure the greater enterprise can achieve its strategic goals.

About the Author

About Richard Greene, CEO, Seculert

Richard brings over 25 years of experience in the IT security industry to Seculert. Previously, he served as President and CEO of AppCentral, the leader in enterprise mobile appstores, and was responsible for setting the stage for Good Technologies' successful acquisition of the company in 2012. Greene has a stellar track record for building great teams, architecting product and sales strategies to launch new technologies into global markets. He has held sales and management leadership roles in McAfee, PGP, and Symantec and currently serves on Adallom's advisory board. Richard holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Nottingham University (United Kingdom).