If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the internet attacks in 2020, everything is a fair game, and nothing is off-limits.
2020 turned the world upside down and added a twist in the lives of workers, deploying “work from home.” Digital transformation went from an evolving trend to a need of the hour. One industry that grew was cybercrime. As billions were hastily jumbled and deployed to remote work, nation-states, organized crime, and amateur hackers alike browbeaten the weaknesses.
Indeed, cybersecurity is getting worse year-by-year. Regardless of how innovative and the top-of-the-class defense gets, hackers’ means and methods seem to get more tricky. Also, are you aware that hackers release a cyberattack every 40 seconds? That’s a deal-breaker for businesses. Cybercriminals are vigorously looking for ways to break the security barriers.
Attackers are becoming inventive by discovering new methods to degrade technology users by accessing valuable networks, passwords, and data. With such a tremendous upheaval, is there a way to keep businesses safe?
As we look forward to 2021, administrators can expect some trends to arise. Here are the top cybersecurity trends to keep an eye out for in 2021:
- The Cloud
The transference to Cloud started when the pandemic hit. When companies moved to remote working, cybersecurity professionals had to struggle to secure these new remote employees. A handful of businesses took some digital transformation initiatives, using cloud services to do so. Retailers released curbside delivery and pickup services.
As intriguing and fascinating as the cloud transformation seems, it has its drawbacks as well. Hence, creating more and more challenges. There is bound to be an increase in cloud breaches due to inadequate security observed in cloud configurations producing vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, governments and businesses require dedicated cybersecurity professionals who know how to handle modern data infrastructures and add a “lock” to private information. Because of this growing demand, students and professionals attract more towards this field. Today they can opt for masters in cyber security online to get the best position in any organization.
- Worldwide 5G Employment
We’re living a cloud-based life. Everything from data transfers, SAAS, and storage, all under the Cloud! Both B2C and B2B sectors will soon have the chance, and later be mandated, to apply 5G management technology. 5G is ready to dominate almost 40% of the globe by 2024 with transfer speeds of up to `10GB/s.
Besides that, 5G technology is a thrilling example of reformist tech being available worldwide. While the technology will make life easier, it will also open new doors for cybersecurity dangers.
Through high-speed data transmissions, hackers will have the power to infect data and deport corporate espionage unannounced. That is until businesses shift their focus to watch out for such threatening breach attempts. We’ll need much higher monitoring and security levels once 5G becomes the traditional form of cloud-based communication and data transfer to cope with such hacker-madness.
- Ransomware Cyberattack Threats
The bitter reality of COVID-19 is the ever-growing unemployment line all across the world. Without a doubt, this has created concern over the distribution of money, and hackers are doing everything they can to harm private entities via cyberattacks.
71% of breaches in 2020 were money-driven, with 52% hands-on hacking. It means that a personality on the other end might attempt to attack your database and servers to cause financial damage.
Ransomware attacks include holding a company’s database hostage and gaining any form of compensation. The best way to avoid such problems is to educate your staff on treating data coming from unverified routes. Additionally, the exponential development of big data means enormous opportunities. The demand for data analytics multiplied rapidly. If you search the keywords on the internet ‘masters in data analytics jobs,’ you will find excellent opportunities.
- AI Incorporation
Almost every individual working in a corporate organization is concerned about security threats. Security professionals, developers, and software engineers are all under pressure to get rid of this breach. Automation and Integration, AI, are therefore critical across the board.
Companies need to integrate security into vulnerable processes like Model Ops and DevOps. That will maintain the quality of progress and improve security.
- Death by Cyberattacks
A frightening concern is that we may start to witness first deaths allied with a cyberattack as healthcare organizations expand and attackers frequently target hospitals. The sector is at risk because of the incredible operational and economic waves it is currently suffering. Unfortunately, we have already witnessed a case in Germany. A homicide investigation conduct after a patient died in a hospital with its machines knocked by a cyber-villain. If this leads to prosecution, it will become the first-ever confirmed case in which a patient has died because of a cyberattack.
- Cyber Insurance
Due to the ever-so-powerful threat, businesses will be critical to purchase cyber insurance policies to alleviate cyberattacks’ financial disruptions. Most organizations in the United States have already purchased some cyber-risk insurance. Others also following the same strategy to remain safe.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) is Still an Issue
Email comprise will continue to be one of the most financially destructive online crimes and one of the most popular gigs for criminal groups to gain money.
BEC scams violate the fact that so many of us rely on email to handle business, both professional and personal. After all, we’ve all been a victim by this form of attack in the previous years. An email message that pops on your screen, coming from a known source, offering a fair deal. Such as a supplier to an organization that regularly deals with dispatching an invoice with a rationalized mailing address.
- IoT Hazard
Studies have presented the idea that cyberattacks traffic has increased at a dangerous rate in the previous year. That can attribute to the massive surge in IoT devices worldwide, and it will increase with the popularity of the 5G technology. Things will become even more complicated in 2021. Expect more hardcoded passwords, firmware and software updates from unknown sources, and personal data. Problems related to wireless communication security will also experience a rise. These issues are entitled “real cybersecurity threats attached to IoT devices, placed in businesses, at home, and public places.
The Verdict
So, how can an industry cope with an enlarging team of cyberhackers?
Each of the above trends suggests that organizations and businesses need to be more vigilant and strategic with their security management. There is a consistent demand to stay ahead of the emerging and growing technologies such as 5G, IoT, the Cloud, and AI. Only then, something good can happen!