Bangalore The emergence of remote and hybrid work over the past two years has given rise to new and complex cyber security threats. The multi-cloud environment in which organizations currently operate has also changed the security landscape. In an interview, Terence Gomes, Country Head- Security, Microsoft India, talked about the threat landscape in India and the need for skills to build a skilled cyber security workforce. Edited excerpt:
What are the recent trends you see in the cyber security threat landscape in India?
We see two clear trends. First, the shift to remote and eventually hybrid work has accelerated the rise in cyberattacks. Over the past two years, cyber attacks have grown not only in size and scale but also in sophistication. Previously, cybercriminals focused their efforts on malware attacks, but they shifted their focus to ransomware, as well as phishing with the goal of harvesting user credentials. Remote and hybrid work realities are resulting in people increasingly moving between work and personal lives, and between multiple devices and networks. As a result, entry points to attacks, identities, devices, apps, networks, infrastructure and data remain outside the security of traditional perimeters. The flip side is that organizations are increasingly beginning to understand how important business-critical cyber security is to them. If cyber security risks are neglected, they are acknowledging enormous reputational, operational, legal and compliance implications. According to industry estimates, cybercrime cost economies more than $6 trillion globally in 2021 and is expected to rise to $10 trillion by 2025. In this context, there is a strong need for an end-to-end cyber security approach to protect organizations. Leaders are embracing at a faster rate than ever before.
In what areas should organizations prioritize and invest in hazard prevention?
A multi-cloud world means that the number of platforms, devices, users, services and locations grows rapidly – and organizations are often faced with the challenge of achieving that. A recent survey by Microsoft shows that 83% of business leaders see managing multi-cloud complexity as their biggest pain point in 2022. Cyber risks are inevitable and always evolving, but the more we use automation to build comprehensive, unified and cloud-powered security. To prevent, detect and mitigate risk, the more we can do, empower organizations of all sizes to be fearless in their digital transformation journey and continue to innovate. Over the past two years, organizations have seen a huge increase in their digital footprint. Cybercriminals move quickly to discover new threat vectors, exploit new exploits, and respond to new defenses. An overlap between information administration, records management and data collection is driving the need for a comprehensive solution for managing data risk. The market has responded with dozens of products that force security, data governance, compliance and legal teams to piece together a patchwork of solutions. This approach not only puts pressure on resources, but it is also ineffective. Providing secure remote access to resources, apps and data has become one of the biggest challenges for business leaders in the past year.
What are the gaps that need to be addressed from the skill point of view to create a strong cyber security talent ecosystem?
Investing in cyber security skills and preparing the next generation of security leaders is a key area of focus for industry and organizations alike. According to industry estimates, India is expected to have over 1.5 million vacancies in cyber security by 2025, the second largest in APAC after China. This has created a strong industry need to build programs that bridge the skills gap in cyber security. In addition, closing the gender gap and enabling greater diversity in cyber security is also a major focus area. Currently, women represent only 24% of the cybersecurity workforce, which means there is a huge opportunity for women to create more avenues.