Security for 2016

A recent survey on which jobs will have the biggest pay rises in 2016 put Security IT at the very top of the list, above the usual banking and governmental suspects, IT security is it.  We’re also lucky enough here to have Jim, who is studying Computer Technology and Security at Bournemouth University, with us.  His insight into what people are learning now is highly useful.

So, what’s the give on this… Really it is that we can expect companies to take far more security over their all their IT system.  The crunch comes when you try to operate your website or provide a service for your customers and are repeatedly frustrated because you can’t do it – without jumping through a ton of passwords.  Annoyance is the word that springs to mind.  the one thing we can predict for 2016 is that we will see a lot more of this.

Here are the obvious ways security will effect us:

1. Controlled Passwords
   Ever been annoyed that you can’t use your usual password, but now need to put in a 10 digit word containing letters, number, upper case and a symbol – expect more of this
2. Time limited passwords
   If you use www.office365.com and Outlook.com – you’ll be asked to set a new password every 3 months… and you can’t use an old one.
3. Location based access
   Every seen a message on Google telling you you’re signing in from an unusual location and making you answer additional questions… they’ll be more of this… If indeed you’re allowed to sign in at all… all ready holiday makers cannot check their TalkTalk accounts when abroad.

These are the tip of the iceberg compared to what is going on behind the scenes. A raft of old Security Standards have been thrown out during 2015, I don’t want to get over complicated in this post, but never has the security industry seen such hacking or moved so far forwards in the encryption line… and we can expect big news in 2016.  Most notably already HTTPS2 has been announced and that will start being used by a lot of big companies.

To explain this a very little bit, when we access a website – the data that funnels down the wires in small little bits and pieces can be accessed in loads of places along the way… whether email, or a website request or even your credit card numbers… if someone is accessing that data and then re-compiling it somewhere then they know what you’re doing.  It’s that simple.  The main line of defence is to scramble all the data before it goes into the wires and then to make sure the other person at the other end can unscramble it.  The idea being if someone pinches it, it’s just a mess.

However, that all said the main purpose of this Post is to suggest to you the main ways you’ll be effected by all this Security stuff…

1. You are going to be effected by your IT suppliers, be they Microsoft, Google, Apple or whoever, f it’s a Mobile Phone Company or  anyone else, if you buy something online from someone else the chances are they will be beefing up their security.
2. You need to comply with the Law – PCI-DSS Compliance is becoming increasingly complex and mandatory if you want to accept credit cards, on or off line… Your suppliers will take an interest in how you look after your customers – like it or not.
3. You need to look after your customers and their data better… it’s not just a case of giving better service or a better deal for customers… it’s root and base – you’re responsible for your customers… if something goes wrong with them – you’ll take the hit.

Where does all this lead… I could get philosophical at this point and suggest things like the bigger players are starting to get serious about the Internet and doing everything they can to put the smaller players out of action – though cost, legal and shear bureaucracy, but really it is ultimately about making sure everything you do serves the customer fully and properly and safely.

At the moment there’s a huge reaction to Cyber Attacks like that on TalkTalk, and that’s resulting in calls for more IT Security experts and their bigger wage packets, but again, that’s a reaction, what companies will want for 2016 is a reliable and secure website… and so should you.