Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2020 Edition

ISF: Behavioral Analytics Expected to Trigger a Consumer
Backlash
Organizations whose business model is dependent on behavioral analytics will be forced to backtrack
on costly investments
BY Steve Durbin, Managing Director, Information Security Forum
In the coming years, organizations’ insatiable desire to understand consumers through behavioral
analytics will result in an invasive deployment of cameras, sensors, and applications in public and private
places. A consumer and regulatory backlash against this intrusive practice will follow as individuals begin
to understand the consequences.
Highly connected ecosystems of digital devices will enable organizations to harvest, repurpose and sell
sensitive behavioral data about consumers without their consent, with attackers targeting and
compromising poorly secured systems and databases at will. Impacts will be felt across industries such
as retail, gaming, marketing, and insurance that are already dependent on behavioral analytics to sell
products and services. There are also a growing number of sectors that will see an increased dependency
on behavioral analytics, including finance, healthcare, and education.
Organized criminal groups, hackers and competitors will begin stealing and compromising these treasure
troves of sensitive data. Organizations whose business model is dependent on behavioral analytics will
be forced to backtrack on costly investments as their practices are deemed to be based on mass
surveillance and seen as a growing privacy concern by regulators and consumers alike.
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