Cybersecurity issues are increasing. Today, there are more threat actors with more divers motivations. Moreover, technological developments create new vulnerabilities and the potential impact of cyber-attacks has increased. What are today’s challenges and what is the right way forward?
The report on cybersecurity of the European Commission describes two challenges and gives recommendations for the future. Apart from the technological challenges, economic and societal challenges make the task of creating a cybersecure future more difficult. The economic challenges are caused by the absence of competition in some cyber industries. For example, there are only two dominant companies in the desktop operating industry. The absence of competition reduces the incentives for companies to improve their products and services. The second challenge described is a societal challenge. Cybersecurity requires a behavioural change, it’s a matter of education, culture, politics and policies. For example, people must know that securing the ID card or credit card is just as important as protecting the own credentials when using digital platforms.
In the way forward to a cybersecure future, several ideas have been described to respond to these challenges. For example, in the job market there is a shortfall of 1 million employees in the field of cybersecurity. Existing workers must be encouraged to engage in education programmes related to cybersecurity. In addition, the coordination of research should be improved to ensure cybersecurity progresses at the same speed or even faster than digital society. Furthermore, sharing of cyber threat intelligence should be reinforced. According to the article, a possible step toward is to establish a central European platform for vulnerability management. Finally, adapting and using emerging technologies such as blockchain and quantum computing may become crucial in creating a cyber secure future.