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Cybersecurity: The Disruptor of The Tech Industry

Jun 18, 2021


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Cybersecurity: The Disruptor of The Tech Industry


The importance of cybersecurity for any organization is a well-established fact today. It is a necessary rabbit hole that every CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) out there, as well as any organization that values its data even in the slightest, must venture down into. Cybersecurity, a.k.a any form of the digital defense paradigm, is more than just security software today. It is an entire multi-billion dollar industry, the need for which has never been greater. In simpler terms, cybersecurity awareness has trickled down onto the masses and has become something ‘cool’, if you will. We will get into why exactly cybersecurity is considered a disruptive technology/industry/paradigm, but also define what cybersecurity and disruption are and what they have to do with each other. 

When we talk about disruptive technologies, the term itself has been popularized rather recently. Human innovations, throughout history, have led to disruptions. If we go back in history millions of years ago, man invented fire and this was a disruptive technology. Later on, human developments in the ability to harness and create advanced materials would determine who would win a war, for example. Much later, we can look at defining disruption as the following: the 2000s brought with them a sophisticated new internet landscape, which would force several industries at the time to change and reinvent themselves.

With regards to cybersecurity, disruptive changes arrived with the adoption of new and emerging technologies (artificial intelligence, cloud computing), changes in compliance/regulatory mechanisms (HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, FISMA) as well as novelties in operational methods (DevOps). Disruptive paradigms such as the above have always had the potential to put cybersecurity at risk. Some of these disruptive technologies (some recent and some slightly more aged) include;

  • The digital transformation

  • IoT or Internet-of-Things

  • 5G (Fifth Generation Cellular Architecture)

  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning

  • Quantum computing

  • Cloud storage, serverless technologies, and microservices

  • The disappearing perimeter

  • Edge computing


Cybersecurity, What is It?


Cybersecurity, simply put, is any action, hardware, software, any tool, and any type of education and/or awareness surrounding the defense of digital systems. Industry IT giant IBM’s definition of cybersecurity is as follows: “Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks. Also known as information technology (IT) security, cybersecurity measures are designed to combat threats against networked systems and applications, whether those threats originate from inside or outside of an organization.” 

What does Disruption Mean With Regards to The Tech Industry?


The Cambridge online dictionary defines disruptive technology as: “a new technology that completely changes the way things are done: A disruptive technology overturns a traditional business model, which makes it much harder for an established firm to embrace.” According to ETHW, “Also known as disruptive innovation, disruptive technology is the phenomenon in which a new product is developed that displaces an established technology and shakes up the industry, or creates a completely new industry. As described by Christensen, the only way to fully escape the effects of destructive innovation is to consistently innovate within the profession one belongs to. Although the term was coined in 1997, disruptive technology has been a prevalent theme throughout history.”

Why Cybersecurity is a Disruptor And What This Means


Cybersecurity is a disruptive paradigm in several senses. The way cybersecurity disrupts the connected digital industry is in the following manners;

  • It disrupts the classic IT career path

  • GDPR and other compliance systems are pushing organizations to upskill staff

  • Regulations and compliance are also pushing organizations to add new resources

  • Organizations will also be disrupted because of the demand for cybersecurity education

  • Cybersecurity regulations and laws will demand transformation from organizations


Necessary cybersecurity measures in a digital economy where there are several breaches per second, as well as crippling ransomware attacks on the world's best defenses, means that disruption to the industry is extremely necessary. New business practices and emerging technologies are bringing fantastic benefits and efficiency to the economy, but also creating great risks in the process such as; an increased attack surface opportunity for cybercriminals, a great skills gap in IT staff, and exposing vulnerabilities in existing business continuity strategies.


Due to all of this, the disruptive forces of cybersecurity measures are already greatly intensified, and the industry is having to respond to a complete cybersecurity overhaul to compensate for the dangers of cybercrime that are now around every corner, especially since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of IT professionals transferring into IT security is on a steep rise, as is the popularity of the cybersecurity industry. In the future, we will see the use of quantum computing in cybersecurity jump, which is both a good and a bad disruption effect of cybersecurity developments. It is good in that we will have unprecedented state-of-the-art encryption available to us. The bad news is that quantum computing will undermine the other existing cybersecurity solutions at the time meaning that cybercriminals will exploit this fact.

Several high-tier cybersecurity specialist firms like Okta, Crowdstrike Holdings, Proofpoint, and Netskope are disrupting the industry, thus also affecting the stock markets with their moves. The digital transformation in the past few years has seen enormous growth and global transfer to cloud computing/cloud storage systems, which has left traditional storage out of the picture and also has opened the market up for cloud computing cybersecurity (which the above firms have focused on). It isn’t only cloud environments, but the transfer to remote work that has disrupted the industry as well. Cybersecurity solutions providers (such as the companies listed above as well as giants like Cisco) have also focused on offering solutions for remote work environments. There are also other visions for the future, big disruptions that require their own cybersecurity strategy, that is something called ‘gamification technology’. The concept of gamification is to make mundane tasks like monitoring and threat detection into a game that is engaging and fun for those tasked to work on it. Machine learning (ML) is central to the artificial intelligence automation of heavy cybersecurity tasks, and will also require new cybersecurity strategies. Furthermore, identity-based cybersecurity solutions are also on the horizon and are forecast to be a large disruptor due to some impracticalities involved in the process. Another example of just how disruptive cybersecurity is that even on a national level new compliance, laws, and requirements, as well as the threat of cybercrime, has made way for a new U.S. “Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity”.

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