Big Data Will Play Key Role In Security's Future, Study Says

Big data is coming to security, RSA says, and it will change the face of today's security technology and practices.

In a report issued Wednesday (PDF), the security company offered a look at how data analytics will be applied to IT security, and how enterprises can ride the new wave.

The analysis of unstructured data will enable companies to more intelligently assess threats and risk, the report says. This analysis will extend to a broad variety of security technologies and everyday practices, it says.

"Within the next two years, we predict big data analytics will disrupt the status quo in most information security product segments, including SIEM; network monitoring; user authentication and authorization; identity management; fraud detection; and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC)," RSA says.

Security departments are currently awash in data from logs and event management systems, but many enterprises find it hard to derive the meaning from all that information, RSA observes. The deep analysis of security data will lead to better methods of assessing threats and stopping attacks, the report states.

"In the next three to five years, we predict that data analytics tools will further evolve to enable a range of advanced predictive capabilities and automated, real-time controls," RSA states.

To take advantage of new data analysis capabilities and practices, security teams will have to add tools and processes for collecting and analyzing security data in-depth, the report says. But a shortage of qualified personnel could gate this trend.

"Security teams need analysts who combine data science with a deep understanding of business risks and cyberattack techniques," RSA says. "Personnel with these skill sets are scarce, and they will remain in high demand. As a result, many organizations are likely to turn to outside partners to supplement internal security analytics capabilities."

Over time, big data will enable organizations to automate some of the security processes that are done by humans today, the report says.

"Big data analytics, when used within an intelligence-driven security program, automates many risk assessments and threat detection processes and puts the advantage of time back in an organization's hands," RSA states. "Big data analytics also helps enhance situational awareness and shorten reaction times to potential risks and problems."

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