Every generation tends to use technology differently, based on their personal preferences and needs, and it can even reflect their values and beliefs. Aside from influencing your behavior, your technological age can affect how you’re protecting your data and privacy. If you’re curious to test your knowledge, why not try the quiz.
To keep up with the latest trends in cybersecurity, regardless of your age, we prepared a list of technologies that bring innovation in security and can potentially change how we perceive cybersecurity in the future.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication has been a part of every sturdy cybersecurity framework for some time now. However, MFA technology constantly evolves, bringing us more sophisticated mechanisms ready to stand against the most challenging security threats. Instead of relying on passcodes and SMS authentication, which tend to be easier to break into, many MFA systems now use biometrics and hardware authentication. Biometric features like fingerprints or face measurements are unique to every person, making it difficult to steal or falsify. On the other hand, hardware authentication may be prone to loss since it’s still a device you have to carry with you. However, every time you use it, it generates a temporary cryptographic code that can’t be replicated, and is much more secure than relying on memory for passcodes.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
With the number of cyberattacks increasing every day, artificial intelligence started playing an essential role in cybersecurity. First of all, it is vital in threat detection since conventional software can’t keep pace with the vast number of attacks we’re facing every day. AI can process large amounts of data to identify patterns and detect threats before entering the system. Since most cybersecurity threats tend to be automated attacks governed by malicious bots, it’s impossible to tackle them manually. Therefore, the only way of defeating them is to use an army of self-learning bots that can predict their next move.
Blockchain technology
Blockchain technology gained a bad reputation for its inseparable ties with cryptocurrencies, in which a part of the population still sees funds used only for online criminal activities. Fortunately, in recent years, people have started to understand the positive sides of blockchain and new ways to use the technology. In 2019, an Infosys report listed blockchain implementation in the cyber safety industry as a top cybersecurity trend. Some leading global banking institutions have already started using blockchain to protect themselves from attacks, and experts suggest we can expect blockchain technology to revolutionize data protection in healthcare. As frequent cyberattack targets, healthcare institutions can benefit from the decentralized nature of blockchain. This way, everyone gets access to only small amounts of data that aren’t sufficient to compromise patients’ personal information.
VPNs
Virtual Private Networks are growing in popularity in recent years, but they became a necessity when COVID locked our offices and left us without the usual ever present IT support. VPNs encrypt data in traffic and reroute users’ connections through a VPN-owned server to cover their tracks and help them stay under the radar of malicious third parties. VPN providers are constantly developing new features and even their own protocols to keep on top of things. Since VPN technology tends to be relatively straightforward, and users don’t have to have any prior knowledge, this is usually an essential part of every cybersecurity starter pack.
Conclusion
Statistics suggest that 44 cyberattacks happen every second. With numbers as discouraging as this, it’s crucial to keep developing technologies that could protect our data and give us peace of mind. It’s even more critical to adequately implement these technologies into our daily lives and keep updating our cybersecurity frameworks with tools and software suited for everyone’s needs.
