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Introduction
Last week Command Zero was at Black Hat USA 2024, meeting customers, partners and spending time with the global cyber community. You can read our key take aways and conference observations on our previous blog post.
This post covers the several trends shaping the future of cybersecurity, based on our discussions and observations at Black Hat USA 2024:
Expansion of giants into adjacent segments
The industry titans are not resting on their laurels. Companies like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne, Check Point, Fortinet and Splunk are expanding and modernizing their capabilities into cloud security, AI-powered agents and automation. This focus is likely to shake up market dynamics and drive further innovation across the board.
SOC automation and SIEM segments in flux
The recent acquisitions of Splunk by Cisco and IBM QRadar by Palo Alto appear to have created a power vacuum in the SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) segment, leading to significant movement in this space. New SIEM players are emerging, and existing ones (including Splunk, Google Chronicle and Microsoft Sentinel) are repositioning themselves to adapt to changing market requirements. Volume-based pricing and storage will continue to be deterrents for this segment.
SOC Automation is another segment with a newfound level of interest. Particularly triage and response automation along with AI-based Tier-1 analyst capabilities are use cases attracting new startups. Some vendors are making strides though no clear winners have emerged for these segments yet.
Interestingly, while many cyber vendors are focusing on Tier-1 operations, we've identified a different area of need. At Command Zero, we're concentrating on where SOCs need more assistance: cyber investigations and threat hunting for Tier-2+ analysts. This is where we believe we can make the most significant impact in improving overall security operations efficiency.
Industry consolidation on the horizon
The cybersecurity landscape is ripe for consolidation. With less funding available in the current economic climate, many startups are left with short runways. Meanwhile, the industry's big players are cash-rich, creating opportunities for strategic acquisitions.
We're likely to see more mergers and acquisitions in the coming months as larger companies look to expand their capabilities and market share. The platform play in cybersecurity is highly valuable for all major players. We expect this trend to continue and even accelerate.
This consolidation could lead to more comprehensive, integrated security solutions, but it may also raise concerns about vendor lock-in and reduced competition. As a startup in this space, we're keeping a close eye on these developments and positioning ourselves to provide unique value in this evolving landscape.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the cybersecurity industry is at an exciting juncture. There are immediate challenges including securing AI to protecting elections and navigating the privacy-security balance. There are also tremendous opportunities for innovation via increasing automation and thoughtful AI implementation to tackle underserved problems in cyber.
