A staff member introduces Tencent Cloud service during a media tour to Tencent headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Sept 27, 2020. (Photo: Agencies)

A lab on cybersecurity under Tencent has published a report highlighting nine trends to watch for in cloud security next year.

The report, titled "Nine Trends in Cloud Security in 2021"and published by Tencent Security Yunding Lab, provided insights in cloud security as more data is stored in the cloud.

The study took notice of the gradual evolution of a network-centric security system to a data-centric one, as data has become a core driving force of the economy.

Challenges are also emerging from new identity authentication, as it has moved from the traditional trust model between man and machine to a multi-polar set of relations between man and man, man and machine, and application and application.

It also emphasized the rising importance of data security and personal information protection, where new regulations and standards are springing up across countries to adapt to emerging security challenges.

The report was published on the sidelines of the GeekPwn 2020 cybersecurity contest held in Shanghai over the weekend, an event for technology specialists and researchers to tackle critical security vulnerabilities in the cyberspace.