Monday Morning Impact – November 13

Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for 2024 and Beyond

Gartner has revealed its top strategic predictions for 2024 with a special emphasis on how generative AI (GenAI) has changed executive leaders’ way of thinking on every subject as well as on how to create a more flexible and adaptable organization.

“GenAI presents an opportunity to accomplish things never before possible in the scope of human existence,” said Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “CIOs and executive leaders will embrace the risks of using GenAI so they can reap the unprecedented benefits.

“This is the first full year with GenAI at the heart of every strategic decision, and every other technology-driven innovation has been pushed out of the spotlight,” added Leigh McMullen, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “GenAI has broken the mold and has kept building more excitement.”

By 2027, the productivity value of AI will be recognized as a primary economic indicator of national power, according to Gartner. National governments have a strong commitment to AI and are prioritizing strategies and plans that recognize AI as a key technology in both private and public sectors. Incorporating AI into long-term national planning is being reinforced through the implementation of corresponding acts and regulations to bolster AI initiatives.

“Implementation at a national level will solidify AI as a catalyst for enhancing productivity to boost the digital economy,” said Plummer. “Successful implementation of large-scale AI initiatives necessitates the support and collaboration of diverse stakeholders, showcasing the mobilization and convening ability of national resources.”

Gartner claims that by 2027, GenAI tools will be used to explain legacy business applications and create appropriate replacements, reducing modernization costs by 70%. By that time, 45% of chief information security officers (CISOs) are predicted to expand their remit beyond cybersecurity, due to increasing regulatory pressure and attack surface expansion. By 2028, enterprise spend on battling malinformation is expected to surpass $30 billion, cannibalizing 10% of marketing and cybersecurity budgets to combat a multifront threat.

By 2028, Gartner expects there will be more smart robots than frontline workers in manufacturing, retail, and logistics due to labor shortages.

Channel Impact^®
Executives are quick to call out AI as a cause of positions being eliminated. Channel partners can help their customers focus their AI efforts on worker augmentation to improve productivity and quality of work, rather than role automation.

SonicWall Confirms that Ransomware is Still the Biggest Fear of the Enterprise

SonicWall, a Milpitas, California-based cybersecurity company, has released the findings of its 2023 Threat Mindset Survey finding that 55% of its customers are more concerned about cyberattacks in 2023, with the main threat being focused on digital attacks like ransomware and spear phishing. Ransomware leads the distress as 83% of all customers cited it as their biggest concern. Meanwhile, 94% of respondents are equally or more concerned about overall attacks in 2023. Phishing and spear-phishing (76%), as well as encrypted malware (64%), comprised the top three concerns.

Despite rising cyberattack concerns, 78% of organizations don’t patch critical vulnerabilities within 24 hours of patch availability; another 13% only apply critical patches when time allows.

Insider threat incidents have continued to increase and 49% of IT professionals cited it as a growing worry. The larger the organization, the more potential insider threat incidents exist. Critical business information and sensitive data can be found in employees’ emails – and IT professionals feel the concern.

Approximately 40% of respondents described their IT/ cybersecurity personnel as inadequate. With the cyberattack landscape becoming savvier with stronger capabilities of pulling off attacks, organizations must prioritize protection and hiring individuals who have the knowledge and skills to best position their company to not fall victim to these ongoing cyberattacks.

SonicWall surveyed approximately 10,000 customers from around the globe. Questions were optional and some were open-ended, while others were multiple choice.

Channel Impact^®
Companies are not only losing millions of dollars to unending malware and ransomware strikes, but cyberattacks on essential infrastructure are impacting real-world services. Despite the growing concern of cyberattacks, organizations are struggling to keep pace with the fast-moving threat landscape as they orient their business, networks, data, and employees against never-ending cyberattacks. Channel partners can play an instrumental role in addressing those risks.

Veeam and Sophos Partner to Detect Cybersecurity Threats

Veeam Software has announced a strategic partnership with Sophos through which the Veeam Data Platform will integrate with Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR), adding a new layer of human-led threat detection and response.

Leveraging the integration, the Veeam Data Platform monitors an organization’s environment to detect potential threats against customers’ production workloads and their backup environment. Should a threat be identified, such as an attacker attempting to tamper with backups, Veeam sends an alert to Sophos MDR—a fully-managed threat hunting, detection and response service that provides a 24/7 security team that rapidly identifies and neutralizes complex attacks, including ransomware, network breaches, and hands-on keyboard adversaries.

“Active adversaries are remarkably adept at evolving their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), often outpacing the detection capabilities of many organizations, as evidenced by Sophos X-Ops threat intelligence,” said Marty Ward, vice president of technology operations at Sophos. “The need for secure backups is paramount, and always-on security operations is imperative in fortifying this business-critical data.”

Additional benefits of the partnership include advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities from Sophos, with backups and versioning provided by Veeam; improved threat response time; comprehensive monitoring of internal and external threats; and prevention against accidental data deletion.

The Veeam Data Platform and Sophos MDR integration is expected to be available later this year.

Channel Impact^®
The integrated technologies are being leveraged to strengthen detection of cybersecurity threats, determine the warranted response, and rapidly recover impacted data.