Predictions on the future of Zero Trust and Microsegmentation in 2023

Ten Predictions on the future of Zero Trust and Microsegmentation in 2023

The bottom line is that simplifying cybersecurity to gain more speed has the potential to stop more breaches this year than the most advanced technologies do. That's the key takeaway from my conversations with CISOs and CIOs, who are pursuing a consolidation strategy regarding their cybersecurity tech stacks. There's no choice but to simplify tech stacks to gain more speed and get the most value from the real-time telemetry data and various alerts they're capturing today.

When CISOs and CIOs talk about getting zero trust strong and improving the health and fitness of their cybersecurity tech stack, they're looking to speed up progress on microsegmentation as core to their ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) strategic goals first. PwC's 2023 Global Digital Trust Insights Report illustrates their point, with 75% of security leaders saying there is too much complexity in their cybersecurity systems and stacks. Meanwhile, spending continues to soar for information security and risk management solutions, with Gartner predicting the market will increase from $167.86 billion last year to $261.48 billion in 2026, achieving a CAGR of 11.1%. Simplifying cybersecurity tech stacks to gain speed and insight, starting with microsegmentation and zero trust, will make every dollar spent deliver more value.

CISOs Pursuing Simplicity For More Speed

2023 will be the year cybersecurity gets simplified for speed. CISOs and CIOs spoke with recently confirmed they're backing away from lengthy implementations that will take them into the 3rd or 4th calendar quarter. Everyone I've spoken with is getting obsessed with quick wins and results, especially when it comes to microsegmentation. This year will be one of zero trust, and microsegmentation earns its way into budgets by delivering value quickly – even in proof of concept phases – and locking in budgets that won't be touched. CISOs are also successfully showing how endpoint security and microsegmentation improvements protect revenue.

The following are ten predictions on the future of zero trust and microsegmentation in 2023:

CISOs will push to consolidate cybersecurity tech stacks faster in 2023. Cybersecurity tech stacks are poised to become more consolidated with the continued improvement in endpoint detection and response, microsegmentation, and security intelligence applications combining features. As enterprises move their workloads to the cloud, the need for separate security products disappears. This is leading to a more streamlined approach to general zero-trust security and microsegmentation.

Quicker implementation times become table stakes on zero trust. As the need for faster security implementations increases, cloud-based zero trust and microsegmentation platforms will be able to adapt rapidly. CISOs are already relying on automated processes to deploy zero trust and microsegmentation solutions, providing them with the necessary security capabilities quicker and at scale.

Reducing threat surfaces by using microsegmentation down to the device and sensor levels gain momentum. More enterprises will use microsegmentation down to the device level, especially in IoTM-centric networks that are unprotected today. By leading their ZTNA strategic initiatives with microsegmentation first, CISOs will trim legacy perimeter-based endpoint systems from their tech stacks and budgets. Microsegmentation will help consolidate tech stacks by reducing threat surfaces faster than the effort-intensive effort that requires an endpoint agent on every device. By segmenting their networks into smaller sections and implementing authorization controls, enterprises can limit the potential areas in which malicious actors can attack.

AI and machine learning (ML) innovations will speed up microsegmentation by automating, creating, and enforcing segmentation policies. There's a growing need for training machine learning models to automatically identify group assets on the network and then implement segmentation policies based on the risk associated with each group. These automated policies will help enterprises quickly respond to threats and protect sensitive assets without requiring manual intervention. Look for the industry to move forward on this dimension of AI and ML R&D in zero trust and microsegmentation in 2023.

Stepwise reductions in incident response times based on advances in microsegmentation technology are coming this year. In 2023 microsegmentation can help improve the speed and accuracy of identifying a threat and respond to it exponentially faster than was possible just two years ago. Organizations can more quickly identify potential incidents and respond by providing a more detailed view of network traffic. Microsegmentation will make performance and accuracy gains by providing a more granular view of enterprise networks, enabling CISOs, CIOs to create policies fine-tuned to specific roles, and users, ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive data.

Mobile devices get microsegmentation religion. With the proliferation of mobile devices, enterprises will need to ensure that the security of these devices is up to par with the security of their main networks. Zero trust and microsegmentation are securing their networks today, and in 2023, the individual device will be protected through microsegmentation using AirGap's Zero Trust Everywhere solution to ensure that these devices are secure, as they can be configured only to allow authorized users to access them.

CISOs double down on network analytics and machine learning tools for greater network visibility as part of their microsegmentation plans. These tools will enable automated network activity monitoring, allowing faster and more accurate detection of malicious activities. In addition, micro-segmentation will be used to create granular policies that will further enable the detection and prevention of malicious activities across multiple networks in an enterprise. As a result, enterprises will be able to identify and respond to security threats promptly and accurately.

Microsegmentation will improve automation by providing more granular control over network security policies. . Automating microsegmentation will enable enterprises to define and enforce security policies tailored to their specific needs. This will reduce the risk of human error and allow security teams to quickly adjust their policies in response to changing threat landscapes. Finally, advances in automation will enable enterprises to continuously monitor and enforce microsegmentation policies, ensuring that networks remain secure at all times.

Strengthening their compliance posture will drive more enterprises to adopt microsegmentation in 2023. Microsegmentation's innate strengths in defining and enforcing granular security policies are essential to enterprises strengthening their compliance posture. Monitoring network activity more closely and identifying potential security gaps is the goal. Microsegmentation will also see increased demand, given its ability to provide a detailed audit trail relative to security policies. That's proving essential for meeting and maintaining regulatory requirements. As a result, organizations can ensure their networks remain compliant and secure in the face of increasing cyber threats.

Expect to see the quality of training on zero-trust apps and platforms increase over the coming year, redefining how cloud-based systems are sold and deployed. As the quality of training on zero-trust applications and platforms improves, adoption rates will climb, and enterprises will gain new insights into the threatscape they're confronting today. Microsegmentation will benefit the most from the transition to more intuitive training by reducing threat surfaces and protecting endpoints and identities with least privileged access.

Conclusion

In conclusion, simplifying cybersecurity to gain more speed is the catalyst that will drive zero trust and microsegmentation adoption in 2023. CIOs and CISOs are pursuing a consolidation strategy to gain more speed and value from real-time telemetry. The key focus for many is to speed up progress on microsegmentation as core to their Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) strategic goals.

According to the PwC's 2023 Global Digital Trust Insights Report, 75% of security leaders say there is too much complexity in their cybersecurity systems and stacks. To address this, organizations are adopting a more streamlined approach to security and quickening the implementation of zero trust and microsegmentation adoption. Utilizing microsegmentation to shrink threat surfaces, protect endpoints, increase mobile security, and gain more insight into telemetry data are just a few areas of innovation that will help accelerate zero trust in 2023.