Cyber-insanity

It has been about a month since I used this space to talk about the rising need for cybersecurity, a topic that is increasingly popping up in conversations within the physical security space.

Just this week, a report on the Cyber Security Market from global research firm MarketsandMarkets shows that the cybersecurity market is estimated to grow from  $122.45 billion in 2016 to $202.36 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 10.6 percent. North America is expected to hold the largest share of the cybersecurity market in 2016 due to the technological advancements and early adoption of cybersecurity in the region, the report found.

The major forces driving the cybersecurity market, the study found, are the rise in security breaches targeting enterprises and need for stringent compliance and regulatory requirements, as well as the growing security needs of Internet of Things (IoT) and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trends and increased deployment of web & cloud-based business applications.

This rise in cybersecurity breaches is the reason why Surveillance Systems Incorporated, a Rocklin, Calif.-based security integration company, recently launched a new cybersecurity division, SSI Threat Protect.

In my conversation with SSI president Todd Flowers, he shared with me an ironic, yet poignant story about an inexpensive drone he had ordered that arrived on day one of the Threat Protect division launch. Flowers said drones are a part of the physical security space he is excited about, and thought it would be cool to use the drones for prizes—“a fun little thing to do for some customers,” he said.

“The first day I launched our new cyber division, this drone shows up, and I plug it in—the interface is super easy and it is on Wi-Fi—but it won't work,” Flowers explained. “So I get my IT guy over and he pulls up the network and turns off our firewall to see what is going on. Now this thing is just supposed to work internally on Wi-Fi and does not require the Internet, but when he turns off the firewall, this thing starts transmitting packets of data to Japan and Korea. The drone was trying to transmit internal information from our servers, and basically opened up a pipeline of critical information to servers in Japan and China.”

Although this scary situation was remedied immediately, it exemplifies what Flowers said he sees happening within the next five years: “The physical side of what we do and the cyber side of security will converge,” he said.

Are you ready for it?