Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2024.  Read them in this 16th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

5 Predictions for Cybersecurity and AI in 2024

By Paul Vallée, Founder and CEO, Tehama Technologies

The last four years and ongoing productivity gains have taught us a powerful lesson: businesses can thrive in fully remote or hybrid work setups. Despite some businesses still chanting the "Return to Office" mantra, most businesses everywhere have come to terms with this epiphany-the hybrid and remote work era is not a fad! So let's get real: the 5 days in the office movement is basically dead, and steam is gathering again for fully remote teams.

In preparation for 2024's hybrid and remote work environment, it's crucial to adopt technological strategies that improve productivity, collaboration, and digital experiences. Here are five forecasts for the future of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence designed for your evolving workplace needs:

The desktop will head the way of the point-and-shoot camera. Nobody buys a standalone camera anymore. Why? Cameras remain incredibly important, probably more so than during their standalone heyday, but our smartphone is a platform that permits us to carry our camera around us all day. In much the same way, the desktop is poised to undergo a dramatic makeover as it merges into the enterprise cybersecurity platform. Cybersecurity buyers are done with the tech stack integration treadmill and want it all under one cohesive, easy-to-adopt, manage, and defend roof. Your phone's now a computer, a camera, a heart-rate monitor, etc. In the same way, your single cybersecurity platform will include the virtual desktop, the zero-trust networking, the threat intelligence and avoidance, the privileged access management, and the workflow automation. Say hello to the platform that takes responsibility for securing remote and hybrid work end-to-end. Tehama is leading the way here.

The "over-employed worker" trend will explode. Picture this: professionals secretly juggle multiple full-time jobs while remote work continues to dominate. The allure of taking a new job while, at the most, "quiet quitting" the old one has turned over-employment into a thriving underground movement. It's a career tightrope and obviously grounds for dismissal, and yet this clandestine community of "over-employed" individuals has mastered freezing their employment histories and staying incognito on LinkedIn. But here's the kicker: these overachievers don't just slack off. They surf the wave of employer satisfaction, ensuring they avoid detection. So, what's the solution? It's time for cybersecurity and compliance leaders to get more sophisticated and deploy cutting-edge technologies and humane monitoring solutions to track what employees spend time on while connected to their digital workspaces. Think privileged access management (PAM) on steroids. Cybersecurity solutions with integrated desktop and behavioral monitoring will be the superhero of choice, simplifying the process without cluttering the tech stack. And if you thought that was all, think again! Policy changes are coming in hot. Enter the "public relationship clause," requiring employees to maintain and update their LinkedIn profiles as a condition of employment. It's the ultimate check to ensure everyone plays by the rules.

State actors will enter the threat landscape alongside cybercriminals. And often, you won't be able to tell the difference between them anyway. The recent surge in geopolitical activity is a clear indication that state actors are ramping up their efforts to infiltrate mission-critical infrastructure and pose hidden threats. To safeguard your business, you need to fight for a renewed budget and invest in discovering latent threats. Without question, this means implementing enhanced compliance checks, such as reference, academic, police records, and residential history checks. But that's not enough! You must also adopt insider threat containment, insider behavioral analytics, and Zero Trust technologies to fortify compliance measures and limit the blast radius of the inevitable incident. Don't wait for a crisis to hit! Act now and stay ahead of the game.

Generative AI will crash into real life with a bang, moving beyond the confines of on-screen chatbots to become an omnipresent assistant. These AI-driven companions will enhance on-screen productivity and extend their capabilities into our physical world. Imagine an AI that can converse with you vocally, adapting to your context and location-like the innovative Boston Dynamics ChatDog, an AI-Robot chimera that promises to revolutionize the way we interact with our environment. Meanwhile, Tesla is set to integrate the Grok chat engine into its vehicles, infusing our drives with interactive intelligence. As these technologies become increasingly sophisticated, they're poised to offer more than just convenience; they're ready to redefine our interaction with the digital world. Buckle up because the future is here, and it's talking back!

We will enter the era of deepfake PR. Nations and mega-corporations have been duking it out in PR battles for ages, trying to undermine the public's trust in their competitors while amplifying their own messages. Deepfake technologies emerging in 2024 will dramatically reduce the cost of participation in this sort of game, and voice cloning will become the ultimate weapon in the battle to undermine trust and goodwill. Generative AI is like the cheat code for these sneaky campaigns, making them easier and cheaper to pull off. Soon, even small businesses will need to stay on their toes and defend against these trust-eroding attacks. Get ready to level up your game. It's time to train your employees to be skeptics, even when they think they recognize that familiar voice and tone. And let's not forget to advocate for the legislative and policing innovation and supply chain governance our society will desperately need to navigate these choppy waters with integrity. We're in for a showdown like no other!

As 2024 approaches, organizations must pivot to a work landscape deeply integrated with AI and cybersecurity. Mastery of these tools will define productivity, yet their risks demand a sharper focus on threat detection and response. Forward-thinking teams will need to be agile, informed, and proactive. Embracing this future means preparing to use technology smartly and safely, ensuring success in an era where adaptability and vigilance go hand in hand.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A seasoned entrepreneur and technology executive with more than 20 years of experience, Paul is widely regarded as a visionary and known for his ability to identify market opportunities and translate complex technical concepts into practical, business-oriented solutions. His leadership style is characterized by his focus on innovation, collaboration, and customer success. Paul is also recognized for his ability to assemble and lead high-performing teams, and for his commitment to fostering positive and dynamic company cultures.

An ardent proponent of remote and hybrid work, Paul is passionate about helping enterprises and government organizations implement cloud-based solutions that promote the secure delivery of data and applications within today's modern work environments. He is currently CEO of Ottawa-based Tehama Technologies, where his experience and expertise in the areas of data governance, cybersecurity and cloud computing, have contributed to the company becoming an industry-leading cybersecurity platform for the delivery of secure hybrid and remote work. Under Paul's leadership, Tehama Technologies has helped many organizations increase operational efficiency, reduce security risks, and enhance overall competitiveness.

Prior to Tehama, Paul was Founder and CEO of Pythian, a provider of data management and cloud services to organizations around the world. Over the course of a decade, Paul grew Pythian into a leading provider of data management services, and helped it expand into new markets and geographies. He was also instrumental in establishing Pythian as a pioneer in the cloud computing space, helping organizations to take advantage of the many benefits associated with deploying applications and data in the cloud.