Dr. Srinivas Mukkamala is Senior Vice President of Security Products for Ivanti. He was the founder and CEO for RiskSense until Ivanti acquired the company in August 2021. He is a recognized authority in the artificial intelligence (AI) and neural networks communities and was part of a think tank that collaborated with the U.S. Department of Defense on applying these concepts to cybersecurity problems. Dr. Mukkamala is responsible for Product Management for all Ivanti Security products and will continue to drive innovation in integrated security solutions across all company pillars: ITSM, Security, and UEM. Dr. Mukkamala was also one of the lead researchers for CACTUS (Computational Analysis of Cyber Terrorism against the U.S.) and holds a patent on Intelligent Agents for Distributed Intrusion Detection System and Method of Practicing. Dr. Mukkamala holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Computer Science from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
In the past year organizations have continued to face disruption from different forces – COVID, a war on talent and an increasing number of cyberattacks. The businesses who have more readily adapted to the changing dynamics saw more success this year. 2021 made it clear that businesses needed to be more aware of their technical environment and sped up digital transformation for all organizations. This year I learned that leaders don’t wait for the “new normal,” they build one. For the next year, automation, zero trust security frameworks and remote/hybrid work are three trends that I see dominating 2022.
- Organisations will benefit from implementing these trends into their day-to-day operations through increased productivity by automating basic security hygiene like patching, edge discovery services, and systems inventory which frees up IT’s time to focus on more mission critical activities.
- A recent Ivanti survey of US employees found that while 50% of respondents found themselves working more non-office hours than before the pandemic, 52% claim their morale had been impacted positively. This evidence shows that a remote/hybrid work environment can have an encouraging effect on employees and could improve productivity.
- Finally, implementing a zero-trust framework that incorporates unified endpoint management with on-device threat detection and anti-phishing capabilities can help stop breaches and improve the overall security of data, devices, and employees. Cybercriminals are continuing to find new ways to exploit their victims, but a zero-trust framework can provide the infrastructure needed to defend in this evolving world.
Industries will be more receptive
With the way that the cyberthreat landscape is evolving it’s critical that all organisations adopt these trends. If they do not, then they face the risk of being left behind with outdated infrastructure, policies, and services.
Healthcare and manufacturing are industries that I predict will be the most receptive towards adopting new trends. Both industries have recently seen the devastating effects of ransomware and supply chain challenges that could be assuaged through the implementation of these trends.
APAC organisations need to do more to ride these trends
It will take an investment and proper planning to fully realize the benefits of these trends. Implementing a zero-trust strategy is not something that can be done overnight and requires planning across all facets of the organisation including groups outside of IT and Security. The same goes for automation in that planning is key to ensuring there are no critical work disruptions while moving to this new model of IT.
It will take bold leadership to fully embrace the idea of a permanent hybrid workforce. With such a massive change, organisations will have to accept a cultural evolution to help drive the adoption of a dispersed workforce. With proper planning, leadership and execution APAC organisations will be ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow.