Over the past few months we have seen major multinational companies face menacing threats from hackers. Biggies such as Google and TCS have had to bear colossal attacks to their cyber properties. According to Symantec estimates, cyber security breaches cost an average of $2m per year for businesses. Therefore, the security conference being held in San Francisco could have been better timed.

As talk about cloud computing picks up, RSA president Art Coviello said while speaking at the conference that its success will depend on security of the cloud. He said, “The journey to the cloud is inevitable, and we are going to have to secure it.” Cloud computing is being hailed as the futue of technology. But if it is to make the impact on IT infrastructure as we expect it to, security of the systems is primary. Unfortunately, it is equally a challenge. Whether we are ready to face this challenge is still uncertain.   

What is required immediately then is to develop internet security techniques that are able to adapt themselves to increasing internet threats. As internet attacks become more sophisticated, systems will need to be more secure to stay safe. That is the concern with most IT majors, leave along the smaller players. Google was heavily targeted in China recently, while India’s outsourcing major TCS website was hacked last month. Attacks on digital properties of Google and TCS have made security a top priority for the year. These attacks have raised doubts on legacy systems and driven home the need to enhance security in newer ways.

Steps are already being taken in that regard to enhance security for internet users. For instance, RSA recently teamed up with VMware, Intel and Archer Technologies to enable visibility into cloud security. This will be required to ensure that policy and regulations can be enforced even in a virtual environment. Alongside, Microsoft announced its ongoing plans to devise cryptographic algorithms for its U-Prove minimal disclosure ID management scheme. This will be available for use under an open source license. This is an identity management solution that will make it easier to transfer data into a virtual environment. Verisign chief executive Mark McLaughlin was recently quoted as saying that cyber attacks are becoming more malicious, sophisticated, and from different directions. This requires us to develop multipronged strategies to be able to meet security threats of inconceivable magnitude. Verisign manages the .com and .net domains of the internet, which are both closer to most people who use the internet and go online. As cloud computing picks up and more and more people start using internet on their phones, security will become a greater concern. It will lead to new avenues for hackers and therefore, security of systems will need to evolve at a faster pace to meet it. Verisign’s McLaughlin has said that Verisign also faces as many as 1000 attacks a day.

What becomes necessary then is for companies to develop greater strategies to meet security needs of newer systems. Security must be enhanced and users need to be cautious to fight cyber attacks better than the previous year.