Internet security to improve

May 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

PRNewswire

LONDON

While online business transactions and consumer use of the Internet are continuing to increase dramatically, cybersecurity breaches are starting to level off, and in the next 10 years security protection will become more effective and widespread as organizations band together to fight cybercrime.

That assessment was made Wednesday by Verizon’s top Internet security expert, Peter Tippett.

Speaking at the Infosecurity Europe trade show in London, Tippett, vice president of technology and innovation at Verizon, said: “While we can never fully forecast the future, we certainly have a good glimpse into what security will be like 10 years from now, based on all the data we have amassed over the last several years for our Data Breach Investigations Reports. For starters, we know successful security breaches are leveling off, and that means we are headed in the right direction as organizations band together to fight cybercrime. By 2020, we expect life to be notably better for cyber users.”

Tippett said, “In general, cyberthreats will become less and less risky as the decade unfolds. With stronger and more ubiquitous measures in place, we will see a significant decrease in e-mail spam, identity theft and much of the computer crime as we know it today. And those cyberattacks that continue will change in character to fewer, more targeted attacks.”