Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, believes waiting for digital threats to materialise will soon be consigned to history as we enter a new age of predictive cyber security capability able to ward off cyber threats even before they occur.

Digital Vision for Cyber Security offers a range of expert views on the scale of the challenge as cyber criminals become more sophisticated and Internet of Things security comes to the fore. The paper highlights new thinking to build cyber security resilience for the next generation by harnessing automation and machine learning to understand – and predict – the threat landscape. 

Presented by some of the leading subject matter experts within Atos and across public and private sector including McAfee, Darktrace and techUK, this new paper positions cyber security as a critical element of digital transformation - demonstrating that organisations across the public and private sectors cannot truly transform without securing themselves against an ever-expanding range of ubiquitous, sophisticated and rapidly changing cyber threats.  

Digital Vision for Cyber Security covers the role that cutting-edge technology will play in responding to these challenges and the balance organisations have to achieve between risk management, data sensitivity and the costs that these challenges present. It also touches on the cyber skills shortage and how it might be tackled.

Speaking ahead of its publication this week, Adrian Gregory, CEO, Atos UK&I said: “For years, the received wisdom for how to secure technology and data was a firewall, equivalent to a ‘lock on the door’. Today the answer is more complex.

“In a world where technology has burst out of the comms room into almost every area of life, how do we install walls and locks everywhere? Clearly, our approach to cyber security must adapt.

“In this paper we have collected a range of expert views on the size of the challenge and also the new thinking that can give us confidence in the face of the vast array of threats that exist in the cyber world.”

Pierre Barnabé, Executive Vice-President, General Manager Global Division Big Data & Security, Atos: “A more automated cyber security approach is essential to address the sheer scale, complexity and volatility of risks in the digital age. As Robert S. Mueller, ex-Director of the FBI once said, we cannot undo the impact of technology – nor would we want to. We must use our connectivity to stop those who seek to do us harm.”

Mariana Pereira, Director at Darktrace, the world leader in AI technology for cyber defence, said: “In an age of limitless data and complex networks, there is simply too much happening, too quickly, for legacy security tools to be able to deal with. Instead of trying to predict the hallmarks of the next WannaCry, organisations are increasingly turning to the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to detect and autonomously respond to in-progress attacks, before they have inflicted damage.”