What is big data? And what does big data cyber security mean? Does it pose a threat or does it give benefits to cyber security?
Data breaches are getting bigger and bigger year by year. Making it clear that cyberattacks have no plan of leaving at all.
Why is this? Because companies today keep more and more data. They process personal information more than ever.
So, cybersecurity measures need to keep up. Also, there is a need for a more advanced way of processing large volumes of data.
Thus, this is where big data can come in. What is it? And how?
Let us dig deeper into this article.
Big Data Cyber Security
Big data is a huge amount of both structured and unstructured information. Due to its large volume, you cannot process it traditionally. Either by database or software techniques.
Further, many companies use it to find patterns and trends in behavior. Also, they use it to find threats and for machine learning.
As per Forbes, the big data analytics market was worth around $203 million. And that was in 2017. Today, it is higher than that.
And it will only get higher as many companies look into it. So that they fight back against cybercrime.
But cybercriminals already picked up on this. Many are not targeting companies that use big data. Meaning, some challenges come with it. What are these?
Big Data Cyber Security Challenges
One of the biggest challenges with big data is data breaches. Why?
Because it is becoming harder to keep up with the growth of the business. While at the same time protecting sensitive data from attacks.
This is because cyber threats are rising and are getting harder to detect. Thus, making it harder to defect against data breaches.
Day by day, more and more sensitive data are put up online. And if these data get into the wrong hands, the results can be devastating.
And as said, traditional security tools won’t work with big data. So, big data analytics is a must.
But there is another challenge with big data. What is it? Digital skills gap. And this is true for most companies.
Most of the time, the workers in-charge of big data do not have the needed skills. What will they do in case of an event?
They need to know how to respond to any threats. But most of the time, they do not know how to.
But help may come soon enough. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Soon, it may solve this issue for companies.
Big Data: A Friend or a Foe?
So, is big data a friend or a foe of cyber security? Well, the answer is, it depends.
If focused on fending off potential attacks, then it can be a friend. Once focused on cyber security, big data can be of much help.
But if it does not put its focus on that, big data can be a foe. Many attackers can take advantage of its openings.
So, what will big data be for you?