Assignment task:
Introduce yourself briefly. Then select an emerging technology trend such as cloud computing, industrial control systems (SCADA), internet of things, artificial intelligence, big data, growth of remote workforce, and so on. Discuss how the technology is trending in the workforce and a potential security implication of the technology.
In response to your peers, comment on how a human-related error could cause a security implication within their stated emerging technologies.
To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric.
Response One
Hello Everyone,
My name is Clinton, and I am pursuing a degree in cybersecurity. I am 38 years old and have been in the manufacturing my entire professional career. I have chosen to transition into the cybersecurity field for a few reasons. One reason is my age and ability to keep working in a physically demanding career. Two would be my love for technology and computers. There is a lack of talent in the cybersecurity world and an ever-growing need to fill those positions. With high salaries and job security, this career perfectly fits my wants and needs.
My chosen up-and-coming technology is quantum computing. The advancement of computers and technology is amazing, and we keep advancing by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, those leaps and bounds come at a cost. Quantum computer tech is still in its infancy, but the research is making big waves. The most significant draw for Quantum computers is their ability to process large amounts of data faster than a normal computer. We know that computers calculate their information in bits, representing each bit by either a 1 or a 0. This is the binary system that all computers use to compute. Since each bit can only represent one of two numbers, the computing capabilities are limited by how fast the processor can interpret the bits. Quantum computing works on the same premise but uses qubits. These qubits are capable of storing more than a single binary number. With the ability to hold both a 1 and a 0 simultaneously, the process grows exponentially the more qubits are transferred. This gives the computer a massive upgrade in computing power.
This technology is great for speeding up computational projects, but please remember the presented cost. This double-edged sword will present itself as the tech becomes cheaper to maintain and operate. Take encryption, for instance. We skimmed the surface of encryption in our reading this week. Normal computers would take years to crack a good 256-bit encryption, making attempting to crack encrypted messages and files costly and no longer worth the time. What happens when the computer's processing speeds can crack those encryptions in minutes? The battle between the red and blue teams often involved fighting each other with the same technology. As one side advances, so does the other. This brings the need to increase our efforts in all aspects of cybersecurity. If we hope to catch up to the threat actors, we must learn and utilize every tool in our tool belt.
Response Two
Hello everyone,
My name is Aharown Jackson, I am a Cybersecurity major, looking forward to interacting with you all.
My emerging technology that I will be discussing is Cloud Computing, or sometimes referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS).
Cloud computing has truly changed the game when it comes to how businesses today store and access software and, at times, their own data (Sabu, 2023). There are many reasons why this is true but for the sake of time I will be discussing two. The first reason is because of the flexibility in scalability. As a business grows it becomes extremely easy to scale up or scale down their computing needs via the cloud (Sabu, 2023). The second being the amount of data storage available and the availability of back ups. Their is a seemingly endless supply of data storage on the cloud computing sector and should an organization lose data for what ever reason, it gives a level of reassurance to that organization to have a third party be responsible for back ups (Sabu, 2023).
Another reason why I see the trend of cloud computing being an emerging technology are the players in the game. We are talking about huge organizations competing here. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle (Sabu, 2023); I'm talking the big boys duking it out for market share. When such high profile companies like the ones mentioned are investing the incredible amounts of resources into these technologies, one has to pay attention.
The biggest security implication that comes to mind is the reliance on a third party to maintain the cybersecurity triad. Although these huge companies must have a sound and stout security apparatus. Their cloud computing departments, specifically data storage, now becomes a huge target. A treasure trove to the most sophisticated threat actors. We've seen many attacks by high level threat actors involve the years and years of passive attacks through surveillance before they strike. I wonder if someone isn't already watching..