We have entered the “Data Decade,” says RSA Security* CTO Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan. What does that mean? Here are three “Data Decade” trends that will reshape how we talk about, approach, and manage data.

The concept of “data” has been embedded in our lives and across every industry since the beginning of time – in various incarnations and forms. In the security and risk industry, data is the lifeblood for how you assess business risk and respond to threats. 

As we embark on this new decade, I believe data will become
the foremost currency that drives the digital economy. It will launch new
industries and topple legacy stalwarts.

In my view, we’ve entered the “Data Decade,” a time when
data will become the coveted resource needed to fuel a multitude of A.I. and
machine learning-based systems embedded across IT ecosystems. Organizations will
look to leverage these technologies as part of their business processes, their
digital transformation journeys and as a way of solving a set of very complex
problems.

In the New Year, I expect three key trends to emerge that
will reshape how we talk about, approach, and manage data:

BYOD: Bring Your Own Data

After years of countless high-profile data breaches,
organizations are viewing data now as a potential liability to their success if
not managed properly. 

In the 2020s, forward-leaning organizations will begin to
talk about the idea of “Bring Your Own Data” policies – an evolution of the
traditional “bring your own device” approach that reshaped the modern
workforce. With “BYOD,” organizations will leverage user-owned decentralized
storage rather than storing data themselves, thereby reducing their potential
liability in the event of a breach.

This paradigm will be most apparent within healthcare. Patients
will be front and center, leveraging easy-to-use technology that coalesces
their own medical record data, to which they can grant their providers
temporary cloud-based access when needed. Healthcare providers will be able to
provide patients with optimal care based on a complete medical history without
being exposed to the cyber risks of storing that data themselves. This new paradigm
shifts the responsibility of data security and privacy onto end-users, while
providing them with intuitive and easy-to-use tools that facilitate the process.

Data Privacy: a Top Business Risk

As we entered 2019, large, multinational companies were
unclear about what impact GDPR would have on their business. In 2020, there is
no more confusion. The substantial fines levied against British Airways,
Marriott and others demonstrated the impact regulatory fines can have on the
bottom line.

In the New Year, organizations will take serious steps to
address privacy and data concerns. Data governance, security and privacy will
be on the C-level agenda.

The challenges of managing regulatory risk will grow in the
coming year. Many individual states in the U.S. have ratified laws to govern
the use of data, but concerns at the Federal level have stalled. Multinational and
U.S.-based companies must comply with dozens of enforcements and guidelines,
further complicating an already complex regulatory landscape.

The AI “Black Box” opens – a little

To really understand how
machine learning algorithms work you need an advanced background in computer
science and mathematics. In many ways, these systems have become something of a
black box. The layer of obfuscation surrounding AI has made it challenging to
detect data integrity compromises, which puts organizations at incredible risk.

The security, integrity, and comprehensiveness of data used by a
growing number of AI systems is essential as we enter the Data Decade. Consequently,
users must have the right level of knowledge to know how data is being
processed, what is being outputted and how it should be secured. As many know, when
even a small fraction of data is tainted, the resulting AI and machine learning
models can be massively corrupted. Subsequent decisions made off compromised models
leads to failure that could trigger financial and reputational harm to
organizations.

In the New Year, I suspect we’ll see capabilities that focus on
making AI less of a black box. Decisions made by these models will be more readily
understood by the masses, not just those with technical backgrounds.

The New Year is brimming with unprecedented opportunity. The dark underbelly to this period of change and innovation is digital risk. More cyber attacks, an increasingly mobile workforce, greater regulatory scrutiny and a complex data privacy landscape will elevate the severity of threats. Companies must keep pace with risk by focusing on awareness, collaboration, investment, and innovation. Managing risk allows organizations to embrace risk. By overcoming their fear of the unknown, organizations can unlock their full potential and chart a path to accelerate human progress.

(*) Disclosure: This podcast and blog post were sponsored by RSA Security for more information on how Security Ledger works with its sponsors and sponsored content on Security Ledger, check out our About Security Ledger page on sponsorships and sponsor relations.

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Source: https://securityledger.com/2020/01/rsa-the-perils-and-promise-of-the-data-decade/