Page 8 - Cyber Warnings

as opposed to just the end customers. These types of attacks on upstream providers causes a
ripple effect that interrupts service not only for the provider, but all of their customers and users.
The attack on Dyn set a dangerous presedent and will likely be emulated several times over in
the coming year.

6. Physical security grows in importance. Cyber security is just one part of the puzzle. Strong
physical security is also necessary. In 2017, companies will take notice, and will implement
stronger physical security measures and policies to protect against internal threats and theft and
unwanted devices coming in and infecting systems.

7. Automobiles become a target. With autonomous vehicles on the way and the massive
success of sophisticated electric cars like Teslas, the automobile industry will become a much
more attractive target for attackers. Taking control of an automobile isn’t fantasy, and it could be
a real threat next year.

8. Point solutions no longer do the job. The days of Frankensteining together a set of
security solutions has to stop. Instead of buying a single solution for each issue, businesses
must trust security solutions from best-of-breed vendors and partnerships that answer a number
of security needs. Why have 12 solutions when you can have three? In 2017, your security
footprint will get smaller, but will be much more powerful.

9. The threat of ransomware grows. Ransomware was one of the fastest growing online
threats in 2016, and it will become more serious and more frequent in 2017. We’ve seen
businesses and individuals pay thousands of dollars to free their data from the grip of threat
actors. The growth of ransomware means we must be more diligent to protect against it by not
clicking on anything suspicious. Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

10. Security teams are 24/7. The days of security teams working 9-to-5 are long gone. Now is
the dawn of the 24/7 security team. As more security solutions become services-based,
consumers and businesses will demand the security teams and their vendors be available
around the clock. While monitoring tools do some of the work, threats don’t stop just because
it’s midnight, and security teams need to be ready to do battle all day, every day. Those are 10
things we see happening in the cyber security space next year.

About the Author
Mohammed Al-Moneer has recently been appointed as Regional
Director, MENA at A10 Networks. Mohammed has held various sales
leadership positions at networking and other high tech companies.
Most recently at Infoblox, he served as regional manager for Saudi
Arabia, where he leveraged his success in leading the services
business to drive operational efficiencies and innovation and achieve
exceptional growth. Prior to that he worked as territory sales manager for enterprise servers,
storage and networking at Hewlett-Packard.

8 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine December 2016 Edition
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