A network security company suggests that cyber security competence will become a significant criterion when global enterprises are considering their operational locations. Stonesoft estimates the reverse China syndrome to be one of the key trends in the next couple of years, boosted by growing cyber security awareness. Hacktivism and the need for societal resilience are on the rise, it warns.
Enterprises may be less inclined to locate their operations in countries where the cyber security level cannot be trusted. Instead, they may turn into nations who look after cyber security.
– The fear-of-China syndrome is an opportunity for Finland; a question of significant competitive advantage and inducement, just like cheap labour or easily attainable raw materials have been in the past. Today, enterprises are pondering whether a nation is hacking the industry and how reliable its legislation is in this respect, says Jarno Limnéll, Director, Cyber Security at Stonesoft Corporation.
– Finland already has a strong international trust capital. By utilizing this trust capital, we can brand ourselves as the leader in cyber security, Limnéll adds.
Another growing trend is network activism, known as hacktivism. For example, the number of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks against government agencies and enterprises is constantly growing. Hacktivism can be motivated by, for example, dissatisfaction with politics or business operations. The attacks are usually executed by loosely organized individuals and groups.
– Cyber reality provides a favourable environment for activism. Reaching goals in the world of bits is much easier and more cost effective than in the traditional world of atoms. Instead of organising demonstrations in front of a company’s headquarters, its operations can be taken down on the Internet, says Limnéll.
In cyber security, also resilience is key. Resilience allows the society, nations and/or companies to recover from cyber attacks and resume their operations as fast as possible. Small everyday/trivial breaks in for example the operations of network connections remind us how dependent the world of atoms is on the world of bits.
– The third significant trend is strengthening societal resilience. Cyber security must be regarded as comprehensive security. It is not just a matter of the IT department or nations, but in the future it will be regarded a part of civics, good citizenship and proper membership in a community. Societal resilience can and it must be increased and developed by making everybody aware of cyber security. Cyber is everybody’s concern, Limnéll says.
Stonesoft raises cyber security issues in the Winning Cyber Strategy 2013 top forum on
