Last year saw some of the largest security breakdowns of all time. Half a billion Marriott Starwood customers had their personal data compromised. More than 100 U.S. university research programs had valuable intellectual property stolen. Ransomware attacks disrupted municipal services in Atlanta and Baltimore. In the midst of these spectacular failures, spending on cybersecurity exceeded $80 billion in 2018, more than 2,000 security vendors are operating in the U.S. alone, and corporate executives and boards are carving out more time than ever to consider security risks. In what other arena is widespread success so elusive, and why does this strange anomaly persist in security?
Yes, cybersecurity is hard and always will be. Attackers will continue to innovate with dynamic new techniques, and opportunities to sow mayhem will proliferate as we bring more of our everyday lives into the digital realm.
But we can do better.