2014 was the year security hit the headlines.

While some brands have deployed security initiatives of impressive magnitude, others fell unfortunate victim to cybercrime. In 2015, security is going mainstream. Cryptography makes its way to theaters, Citizenfour is Academy-awarded, and ambitious startups now offer entreprise-class, plug-and-play encryption services to the public.

In any case, security is becoming one of the key issues
for brands over the next few years.

I. Observation

Or how security became redundant in 2014.

In November, 2014, WhatsApp — the mobile messaging app acquired by Facebook for 21.9 billion dollars nine month earlier — powered-up its network with a global-scale, end-to-end, cryptographic apparatus. It reaches more than 600 millions active users. Experts were prompt to dub it « the largest deployment of end-to-end encryption ever. »

Let’s step back. Few weeks prior this event, the Internet had gone mad. The reason: a now infamous release of thousands of files, intimate videos and images, straight from celebrities’ smartphones. It’s the Celebgate (a.k.a Fappening), the biggest media scandal of 2014.

Until November came. And along with it, Sony’s meltdown. The company withstood a large-scale attack on its data. It was left crippled and more fragile than ever, and consequences are still unfolding.

Within those two curves lies WhatsApp’s massive security deployment.

The year 2014 truly is a paradigm shift in the thinking of security for companies dealing with personal data. It’s precisely under this light that WhatApp’s strategy should be read. A path other players were eager to follow.

Early March, Yahoo Mail releases an end-to-end crypto plug-in for its users: “Just a few years ago, e2e encryption was not widely discussed, nor widely understood. Today, our users are much more conscious of the need to stay secure online. […] We’ve heard you loud and clear: we’re building the best products to ensure a more secure user experience and overall digital ecosystem”.

II. Analysis

Or how security became a value proposition in itself.

« There are two kinds of companies, those that have been hacked, and those that will be. »

Quite a blunt statement. But when Andreas Antonopoulos hammers this phrase to a savvy audience at BitcoinSouth, he’s not even trying to scare them. He’s just stating a simple truth — securing data thoroughly is an absolute conundrum.

Antonopoulos is a respected figure in the Bitcoin community. Yes, the digital currency. Whatever one’s bias on the subject, our focus of interest here is rather the technological invention that enabled its emergence. The blockchain. A cryptography-based ledger, building itself bit by bit and publicly, thus guaranteeing transaction transparency and the absence of fraud. The genius of the whole system is that, in its very fabric, it exempts itself from a central authority.

The blockchain is a security revolution. It gives rise to new business models. A plethora of well-funded startups are imagining right now how services we’ve all previously used — data sharing, online identity, money transfer, marketplaces — may be redefined in a far more secured way, mounted on protocols spawned from the blockchain.

Scandals mentioned earlier are merely ephiphenomenons. A profound, drastic, underlying mutation is taking place. Security is gradually becoming a value proposition, an element with considerable competitive potential, while overcoming its traditional anxiety-inducing factor. In both the politics and social spectrum, the same mechanics are at play, and citizens are more and more confronted to this pressing issue.

Survey published by Microsoft in 2015. A majority of the general public perceives a negative impact of tech on their private lives. It gets even worse with the Internet Of Things: 81% of Americans admit being concerned by consequences of technology on their private lives.

If this new security paradigm affects the general public, it’s also the case for brands. Obviously, it’s a bit edgy. Especially for companies which, despite their investments in tech, have other core businesses.

What room do they have to manoeuvre then? Which posture should one be adopting? How can a brand learn from these new models and practices — without sinking into some sort of cosmetic security.

Lastly, and above all, what benefit could it bring for its brand’s territory?

III. Anticipation

Or how to capitalize on trust.

Security has become sexy. Because of the growing attention we give to this notion, further corroborated by what’s in store for our web platforms, the consequences will be a reinterpretation of this security paradigm by brands willing to position themselves in a competitive niche.

And this will lead to the deployment of a new brand language. A language where security is staged, and displayed as one of the core values of the brand. Signs of these early stages are already there.

Several new mobile messaging apps, standing on a core security proposition, are launched seemingly everyday. Even more interesting, some apps build their entire brand message on security. Sicher (« sure ») is but an exemple among others.

In the near future, the core business of these companies and brands could follow the same path. To serve the growing demand of clients of course, but also to appear proactive against potential threats.

Because if the user builds content, the brand builds trust.

IV. Homework

Or how to daydream constructively.

Imagine a Verizon or Orange product inspired by Firechat.
Imagine a USPS service inspired by the blockchain.
Imagine a Playboy campaign inspired by the Celebgate.