Blog | G5 Cyber Security

Cyber Security in 2030: What to Expect

G5 Cyber Security

TL;DR

Predicting cyber security in 2030 is tricky, but we can expect more AI-powered attacks and defences, a bigger focus on protecting cloud services and IoT devices, and new challenges from quantum computing. Staying ahead means investing in skills, automation, and proactive threat hunting.

Understanding the Trends

  1. AI’s Double Edge: Artificial intelligence will be used by both attackers and defenders. Expect more sophisticated phishing attacks generated by AI, but also better detection systems that learn from patterns.
    • Attackers: Automated vulnerability discovery and exploitation.
    • Defenders: Anomaly detection, threat prediction, and automated incident response.
  2. Cloud Security is Paramount: More businesses are moving to the cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). This means protecting data in the cloud becomes critical.
    • Key areas: Identity and Access Management (IAM), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), container security.
    • Example IAM command (AWS CLI): 
      aws iam list-users
  3. IoT Explosion & Risks: The number of Internet of Things devices is growing rapidly – smart homes, connected cars, industrial sensors. These often have weak security.
    • Challenges: Patching vulnerabilities on many different devices, securing communication between devices and the cloud.
    • Focus: Device authentication, secure boot processes, network segmentation.
  4. Quantum Computing Threat: Quantum computers could break current encryption methods (like RSA). This is a longer-term risk but needs planning now.
    • Mitigation: Transitioning to post-quantum cryptography algorithms.
    • NIST’s work: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing new standards for post-quantum crypto.
  5. Supply Chain Attacks Will Continue: Targeting software suppliers to compromise many customers at once.
    • Solutions: Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs), vendor risk management, continuous monitoring.

Preparing for 2030

  1. Invest in Skills: There’s a huge shortage of cyber security professionals.
    • Key skills: Cloud security, AI/ML, incident response, threat intelligence.
    • Certifications: CISSP, CISM, CompTIA Security+.
  2. Automate Everything Possible: Reduce manual tasks to free up staff for more complex threats.
    • Tools: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) platforms.
  3. Proactive Threat Hunting: Don’t just wait for attacks to happen; actively look for them.
    • Techniques: Using threat intelligence feeds, analyzing network traffic, looking for unusual behaviour.
    • Example YARA rule (simple): 
      rule suspicious_file { meta: description = "Detects a potentially malicious file" strings: $mz = "MZ" nocase condition: $mz at 0 }
  4. Zero Trust Architecture: Assume no user or device is trusted by default.
    • Principles: Verify everything, least privilege access, micro-segmentation.
  5. Regularly Update and Patch: Keep all software up to date to fix known vulnerabilities.
    • Tools: Vulnerability scanners, patch management systems.
Exit mobile version