Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Cracking Down on Infrastructure Security
By Kate Adam, Sr. Director of Security Product Marketing, Juniper Networks
It’s not a new idea to say that security needs to be a key consideration in every part of a business, but it is easy to overlook and in the process fail to assign cyber initiatives the level of importance they require to be effective. With new and very real risks threatening the supply chain, critical infrastructure and the hybrid work model to name a few, it has become more important than ever for enterprises, and governments to lead with a security-first mindset. 2022 must be the year of increased infrastructure security to fully adjust to our new normal and stay one step ahead of bad actors.
Organizations will require vendors to validate that they are securing their supply chain: It will come as no surprise that supply chain security is under a lot of scrutiny, and I predict that we won’t see that changing any time soon. Supply chain attacks occur when threat actors compromise networks using connected applications or services that can be either owned or used by outside partners up and down the supply chain. What started as an issue brought forward by the pandemic has blossomed into a larger scale problem with real security implications and has added to the supply disruptions we are currently experiencing. To counter this, in 2022, we will see additional questions added to RFPs asking about digital code signing, who the certificate authority is and what IR processes are in place to limit the impact when an attacker does successfully exploit a supply chain process. Supply chain shortages and delays are painful enough, let’s not add insult to injury with lackadaisical security procedures that invite even more disruption. Given growing recognition of the gaps in supply chain security, expect to see buffed up security measures in this area starting ASAP.
Infrastructure security will be a major “thing” for organizations in both the enterprise and service provider spaces: Due to both the increase in cyberattacks and the realization (finally) by governments that critical infrastructure – and what enterprises deem “critical” to their businesses – is seriously at risk, we are going to see a much larger emphasis on infrastructure security in the coming year. Despite the Biden administration’s recent mandate that federal agencies fix known vulnerabilities by mid-2022, many are likely to fall short. There are simply too many vulnerabilities (over 300 listed in the mandate) for agencies to patch all the impacted systems by the deadline. Mandate or no mandate, the challenges around keeping up with security researchers and the ever-growing list of vulnerabilities and exploits will cause government organizations and enterprises alike to seek out alternatives, such as Zero Trust and prevention and detection technologies. Such technologies can reduce reliance on software updates and patches and still provide much-needed critical infrastructure protection.
Cyber threats, such as ransomware, will continue to increase: The IT world went into chaos when employees started working from home overnight because IT teams had to solve for massive increases in scale and performance with little warning, and we all know how much attackers love chaos. Fast forward nearly two years and now a large portion of those work-from-home employees are about to come back into the office – at least part time – so IT security teams are going to learn pretty quickly where they may have dropped the ball securing the corporate network between the home, office and points in-between. More network chaos always means more successful cyber and ransomware attacks.
The past couple years have brought much change to the way we work and live, and 2022 will be no exception. As we enter a new phase of cautiously reentering society while still recognizing that remote meetings will remain prevalent, it’s crucial that we adapt our security best practices to this hybrid lifestyle.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Adam is the Sr. Director of Security Product Marketing at Juniper Networks. Kate has extensive experience in product management, product marketing, and client management including machine learning, behavioral analytics, network security, web application security testing. Kate values learning opportunities, problem-solving, and knowledge sharing. Before her position at Juniper Networks, Kate held positions at E8 Security (acquired by VMware), Palo Alto Networks and WhiteHat Security.
