Applying Research Methods to Determine Industry Trends and Their Impact on the Enterprise
IT security is like many other technology fields in that things change rapidly. Just consider for a moment that it was not that long ago, in 1995, that Dan Farmer and Wietse Venema created one of the first vulnerability assessment tools. This early tool, known as SATAN, was not looked at kindly by all in the IT security field. Some questioned the need for a tool used to scan for and identify vulnerabilities.
Although vulnerability scanning was a huge paradigm shift in 1995, today the use of such tools is common practice. The debate over placing tools in the public forum so that they can be used by good guys and bad guys still continues. As security professionals, we must keep abreast of industry trends and their potential impact on an enterprise. Many such trends have occurred and will continue to do so as IT security matures and adapts to changes in the industry.