Security Industry Pivots from Antivirus to Cloud Data Security

Posted by skyhighnetworks on June 2nd, 2014

Antivirus software has been a mainstay of computer security for well over two decades, but that era is coming to a close. Even major security software vendors are admitting that this new era demands new tools. “Antivirus is dead,” says Brian Dye, Senior Vice President for Information Security at Symantec, which in 2013 brought in over $1 billion in revenue from its flagship Norton Antivirus product line.

What’s changed is that hackers have adapted and are now developing viruses which come in many different variants. By the time one variant, or version, of the virus is added to antivirus definitions, it has already splintered into millions of other variations which have a different software fingerprint. These other variations are undetectable by antivirus software until they too are added to virus definitions. The new focus is on cloud data security, not detecting viruses, say experts.

In this new threat landscape, a new generation of security approaches has emerged to secure the data itself and detect threats in progress so they can be shut down, rather than prevented. The recent sacking of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel shows just how severe a data breach can be to the reputation and revenue of major companies. That’s because hacking is more than just a recreational hobby, it’s now big business and backed by significant nations and criminal organizations. And as more data moves to the cloud, cloud data security will become more prominent.

The security industry is already moving to address the threats in this new cloud world and ensure cloud data security using a new set of tools. In the case of Target, however, the technology alone may not be enough. In that case, the company had a security tool in place that correctly identified the breach and sent the IT security team an alert, but failure to follow up on the alert caused the company to ignore it for over a week while millions more credit cards were stolen. It’s clear that a mix of people, process, and technology will be needed.

Author :

Skyhigh Networks, the Cloud Data Security Services company, enables companies to embrace Cloud Security Services with appropriate levels of security, compliance, and governance while lowering overall risk and cost. With customers in financial services, healthcare, high technology, media, manufacturing, and legal verticals, the company was a finalist for the RSA Conference 2013 Most Innovative Company award and was recently named a "Cool Vendor" by Gartner, Inc. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Skyhigh Networks is led by an experienced team and is venture-backed by Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital. For more information, visit us at http://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-data-security/ or follow us on Twitter@skyhighnetworks.