Gary Middleton, Dimension Data GM of security solutions, believes that, as the importance of information security continues to rise, organisations around the world are looking to revise their existing strategies to ensure their information assets are optimally secured.
Middleton has outlined 10 factors he expects will affect the information security landscape this year.
The predictions are based on trends identified by DiData and its sister security companies among their clients around the world.
Middleton says organisations can expect more damage from attacks, but less epidemics. He explains that attacks, such as mass mailer worms, have become less common recently, while attacks on networking and Unix-based systems seem to have picked up.
"Infection rates are likely to increase in 2006, and organisations can, therefore, no longer rely on the media or mass attacks to alert them of problems. The assumption that no news is good news will lead to a false sense of security," he notes.
Infrastructure elements
He also believes attacks will move beyond Microsoft`s operating system, with more applications and other infrastructure elements within organisations being targeted, resulting in increased workloads to patch vulnerabilities.
Spyware, he argues, will remain a major issue and organisations can expect more spyware infections, which will deplete bandwidth, drive up the number of help-desk calls and ultimately affect employee productivity.
"Everyone is talking about it, but few are actually taking definite steps to combat spyware. There will be a greater need to invest in additional technology to combat spyware," Middleton says. He adds that many anti-virus companies have started offering anti-spyware solutions.
He says that instant messaging (IM) and peer-to-peer (P2P) will become a "bigger headache".
"Widespread adoption and use of IM and P2P applications can expose organisations to new threats. Organisations need to be aware of, secure and manage these technologies."
Middleton predicts that messaging security will also get serious, adding that, two years ago, organisations invested in e-mail security products that controlled spam. Today, the focus has shifted towards solutions that incorporate policy compliance and encryption capabilities - in addition to the ability to deal with viruses and spam.
Due to increased awareness and legal compliance issues, Middleton believes boards will pay more attention to security.
"In line with the global trend of good governance practices, boards continue to pay greater attention to ensuring their organisations` information assets are protected from a growing number of internal and external threats."
Wireless security
Wireless security will get more attention in 2006, he notes, adding that, as end-user demand for mobility continues to grow, organisations need to ensure their wireless access points are secured from unauthorised access.
Middleton also believes that patching will become selective, saying that the number of patches that are released for operating systems, applications and other IT infrastructure elements continues to grow at an alarming rate.
"Implementing all patches is becoming too cumbersome and costly, and organisations will start to selectively patch their IT assets based on value and the particular threats that they face."
Meanwhile, the trend towards secure infrastructure is expected to continue.
"As security becomes embedded in the infrastructure layer, we are witnessing the convergence of network, systems and security management as a single competence. As a result, customers will increasingly look at one provider to supply, support, manage and secure the end-to-end infrastructure."
There will also be a greater focus on end-point security, Middleton points out. He says there is going to be a much greater focus on how insecure end-points, such as laptops, desktops and other devices, connect to the network.
Overall, Middleton says IT security budgets have remained static over the last few years, with security making up on average 5% to 9% of total IT spending. However, he says, companies are showing greater maturity in terms of security, and solutions are becoming more sophisticated.
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