Top Cybersecurity News Stories From December 2024

Cybersecurity has sparked conversations in boardrooms, newsrooms, and beyond in 2024. This year, experts have pushed for a closer look at the strategies we use to defend against the next big breach.

One thing is clear: Zero Trust is no longer optional. Cyber experts agree it’s a must-have approach for organizations of all sizes and industries. This was reiterated in this month's cybersecurity news.

This month’s top stories include:

• How the new U.S. administration could shape cybersecurity laws

• Why critical infrastructure needs a strong Zero Trust strategy

• Microsoft’s new graph-based security approach with Illumio

• The top ten hottest cybersecurity tools of 2024

What the new U.S. administration means for cybersecurity

In this TechStrong TV interview, Illumio's public sector CTO Gary Barlet shares critical insights on what the incoming administration could mean for cybersecurity.  

While the political landscape may shift, Barlet believes one thing will always stay the same: cyber threats don’t care who’s in charge.  

He points out that both political parties have worked together to make progress on federal cybersecurity efforts. He says the Biden administration is likely to keep building on this work. After all, the Trump administration helped set things in motion by creating the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Barlet emphasized that cybersecurity is both a smart strategy and a moral responsibility. Whether it’s protecting people’s personal data or keeping critical systems safe, cybersecurity is now a major battleground. It can’t be ignored.

He says Congress has avoided taking responsibility for too long, depending on executive orders instead of passing important cybersecurity laws. “When it’s a law, there’s weight to it — you can be held accountable,” he noted.

But Barlet remains hopeful. He thinks more people are becoming aware of the problem, and younger lawmakers who grew up with technology will push Congress to take action.  

Recent cyberattacks, like those on U.S. telecommunications, show that these threats are real and can happen to anyone. They don’t just target one political party or government agency – they affect the whole country. Barlet hopes this sense of urgency will encourage teamwork to protect important systems in both public and private sectors.

Barlet connects it all to resilience. He explains that microsegmentation works like watertight compartments on a submarine, creating safe zones within a network. This helps stop one breach from turning into a bigger disaster because the damage can be contained before it spreads.

Overall, Barlet wants the federal government to make cybersecurity a top priority before we face a major attack, like a "cyber Pearl Harbor." He says Congress needs to take action, provide funding, and take responsibility for keeping the country safe as cyber threats grow. It’s not about politics — it’s about protecting what’s most important.

Critical infrastructure can achieve Zero Trust — even with limited resources

Budget limits are always a challenge for local governments and critical infrastructure organizations. But having a small budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice security.

Barlet wrote in his new American City and County article, Small budget, strong security: Why Zero Trust is key to protecting critical infrastructure, about how Zero Trust is becoming a powerful tool for protecting important infrastructure.

Barlet explains that legacy, perimeter-based defenses don’t work well anymore because today’s systems are more spread out and connected than ever before.

“Traditional security measures, reliant on perimeter defense, are no longer sufficient,” he said. “Agencies must stop solely focusing on perimeter defenses and flip the paradigm with an inside-out strategy.”

The best way to do this is with Zero Trust. Zero Trust assumes a breach could happen at any time and follows a “never trust, always verify” approach, Barlet explained. With ideas like least-privilege access and microsegmentation, Zero Trust helps organizations stop threats and contain breaches without spending too much money.

This approach is especially important for public services like water systems, transportation, and power grids, where a cyberattack could put lives at risk. By using Zero Trust, these organizations can become better at defending against both random and targeted attacks.

And adopting Zero Trust doesn’t have to be overwhelming. “Agencies don’t need to tackle every cybersecurity problem across the whole enterprise,” Barlet said. “With Zero Trust, they can focus on protecting critical systems and preventing breaches from turning into major disasters.”

Good security doesn’t always need a big budget or lots of resources. What really matters is having the right plan. Zero Trust helps organizations focus on what’s most important: lowering risk and keeping damage from a breach as small as possible.

A new era of graph-based security accelerated by AI  

AI is revolutionizing cybersecurity, and graph-based security models are at the forefront of this shift. This month, Microsoft announced that they’re testing this new approach as “customer zero” for a graph-based platform future.  

Charlie Bell, executive vice president of security at Microsoft, shared more about the model and how it has the potential to help organizations detect and contain threats faster in his LinkedIn article, A New Era of Graph-Based Security Accelerated by AI.  

Bell quotes Microsoft Security’s John Lambert, corporate vice president and deputy CISO: “Defenders think in lists, attackers think in graphs. As long as this is true, attackers win.”  

This is the “unified security graph” approach Microsoft is working towards, incorporating data from both Microsoft and other security tools like Illumio.

Bell explained that, unlike traditional security methods that look at data points one by one, graph-based security connects the dots to find patterns and unusual activity. When combined with AI, it creates a strong, proactive defense that can spot and stop threats before they become bigger problems.

“Through this graph-enabled experience, Exposure Management enables security teams to view potential attack paths to critical assets from the perspective of a threat actor,” Bell said.

This method works well against advanced attacks that can get past regular security systems. It helps build better ways to prevent attacks and connect risk evaluations across data, devices, apps, and user identities.

“The graph will also pave the way for new possibilities in AI-powered investigations, with Copilot and graph-enabled capabilities mutually enhancing each other in a virtuous cycle, strengthening security with every signal,” Bell explained.

As we move into 2025, more organizations will start using AI and graph-based security to improve their defenses. This combination isn’t just new—it’s becoming necessary to stay ahead of more complex cyberattacks.

CRN: The 10 hottest cybersecurity tools of 2024

If 2024 is any sign, cybersecurity innovation is stronger than ever. CRN's new list, 10 Hottest Cybersecurity Tools and Products of 2024, shows the top solutions that are changing the way organizations protect themselves.

CRN found that organizations are looking for solutions that don’t just prevent breaches but also reduce complexity. “Simplicity and effectiveness are the name of the game,” explained the list’s author Kyle Alspach.

CRN includes Illumio CloudSecure on the list. Illumio’s agentless microsegmentation contains breaches in the cloud. As part of the Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation Platform, CloudSecure brings a consistent approach to microsegmentation across your cloud, endpoint, and data center environments at scale.  

As companies deal with new types of attacks and stricter rules, security technology like microsegmentation aren’t just helpful — they’re crucial. Whether it’s securing cloud systems, protecting devices, or keeping an eye on your network, the new tools of 2024 are helping create stronger and smarter cyber defenses.

Contact us today to learn how Illumio can help you contain the spread of breaches and ransomware attacks.