‘Malware is like malaria, it mutates to work around vaccines’

Over the next year or so, malware will continue to evolve in order to avoid detection, and we will see the return of ‘old school’ attacks like Office macro.

That’s according to Bromium’s principal systems engineer, Fraser Kyne, who told PCR: “Attackers are smart, and will morph. It’s a bit like a malaria. Expect to see old variants coming back as the disease mutates to work around vaccines.”

With crypto-malware hitting both businesses and consumers hard over the past few years, selling security has gone through a number of changes. It now appears we’re seeing things cycle back around to endpoint security.

“There’s been a shift around where the security is implemented,” said Kyne. “For a long time people have tried to do it at the network perimeter, but the definition of a perimeter has evaporated with the Internet, mobility and cloud. So now we’re seeing a re-focus on security on the endpoint device.”

When it comes to new ways of selling security, Kyne likens subscriptions to car insurance.

“Vendors rely on consumers’ apathy and inertia in the knowledge that a certain percentage will just renew without thinking. Smart/good vendors will continue to provide sustainable value to warrant the renewal,” he advised.

Speaking about the future of security, and how new technology will affect it, Kyne concluded: “With new capabilities come new risks. If the benefits outweigh the risks, then people will consume them. We’ll continue to learn, and fail, and learn again while we develop new tools.

“Innovation will typically outpace protection, so we have to expect some pain along the way.”

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