IT: Top security and storage predictions for 2011 revealed

Symantec Corp. has announced its security and storage predictions for 2011 based on what they are observing in the information protection landscape. Symantec specialists predict that “cloud”, virtualization, mobile security and social media will take center stage in the New Year.

Analyst firm IDC estimates that by year’s end new mobile device shipments will have increased by 55 percent, and Gartner projects that in the same timeframe, 1.2 billion people will be using mobile phones capable of rich Web connectivity. Although cyber criminals have shown little interest in mobile devices in the past, as devices grow more sophisticated and as a handful of mobile platforms corner the market, it is inevitable that attackers will target mobile devices in 2011 and that mobile devices will continue to grow as a source of confidential data loss.

A similar challenge exists with the widespread adoption of virtualization. Although many companies believe the information and applications within their virtual infrastructure are protected, many IT administrators will face the harsh reality that they are not in 2011. The rapid adoption, fragmented implementation and lack of standardization of virtual infrastructures will continue to expose gaps in the security, backup and high availability of virtual environments. Although virtualization decreases server costs, organizations are realizing that virtualization is simultaneously increasing management and storage costs, and without a plan to protect these environments, they may not realize the full return on investment.

The exponential level of data growth is impeding organizations’ ability to effectively manage and recover data. In 2011, storage administrators must regain control of information, lose their “pack-rat” mentality and categorize what information is most important for retention purposes. Otherwise, storage costs will continue to skyrocket, and organizations will face extensive recovery times and be unable to comply with regulatory compliance standards, including privacy laws, and e-Discovery.

Symantec also predicts that organizations will leverage public and private clouds as they become highly available in the coming year. Tools will also emerge to manage this new, complex storage environment and to help IT administrators better understand and capture information about unstructured data that resides within it.