As more employees work remotely, cyberattacks against employees have increased significantly. Attackers take advantage of weak internet connections or leaving computers unattended while taking advantage of people being tricked by phishing attacks to launch cyber attacks against them.
Human-centric security combines behavioral sciences and user experience approaches to help manage security risk effectively and maintain organizational compliance. This form of approach forms the basis of security risk management.
1. AI and Machine Learning
Cybersecurity refers to the practice of protecting data and systems against cyberattacks through both technical and human efforts, to identify, respond to and prevent attacks.
Cyber AI can assist in many cybersecurity tasks, including recognizing patterns that indicate threats, increasing detection speeds and accuracy over time, and improving detection accuracy over time. Cyber AI should only ever serve to supplement human teams rather than replace them entirely.
As AI evolves, we’ll see it used for other security-related tasks as well, including identity verification which verifies that individuals are who they say they are when onboarding and reset requests are submitted, reducing fraud risk while decreasing human error risk. It may also help detect signs of disgruntled employees or insider threats.
2. Zero Trust Models
Cyberespionage has become an increasing threat to organizations worldwide. This form of attack involves the theft of confidential business data for competitive or economic gain – either individually, competitors, or nation states can perpetrate this type of cyberattack.
Companies need to prepare for cyberattacks in 2024 by revamping how they secure data, taking a proactive approach, such as by implementing Zero Trust models that reduce attack surface through verification before trusting, restricting user access rights as needed and managing their usage of applications.
Businesses should also look into utilizing cloud-based security tools that focus on vulnerability management to help identify potential issues more quickly and address them swiftly.
3. Cyber Warfare
Cyber warfare has become an ever-increasing concern, given the widespread integration of digital technology into modern life. From entertainment, business systems, social media platforms and infrastructural components of cities and countries – we live surrounded by networks which could potentially be compromised.
Malware, ransomware or even extortion attacks can target individuals to collect personal information, large corporations and organizations to disrupt operations or gain confidential data; or nation states seeking to acquire military or economic secrets from non-friendly governments.
Individuals may not be the main targets of cyber warfare, but can still be vulnerable to attacks that disrupt essential services or utilities we rely on, or cause collateral damage as part of widespread malware campaigns. Therefore, multi-factor authentication (MFA) should become increasingly vital when connecting to sensitive systems or websites in order to safeguard information and devices that belong to individuals.
4. The Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT devices present many benefits; however, they also pose cyber security threats that can compromise personal and business data and disrupt critical infrastructure.
Hackers have taken notice of vulnerabilities in smart home technology, Internet-enabled baby monitors and medical devices as a potential route into our homes and breaching corporate networks. Furthermore, IoT devices can form large botnets capable of creating severe disruption.
Companies facing remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic experienced a sharp rise in cloud-based services and devices. To protect these solutions, organizations should implement strong authentication policies, secure remote access and enhance vulnerability management; additionally it would be wise to invest in cybersecurity platforms which combine threat protection capabilities into one solution.
5. Ransomware
After WannaCry’s devastating cyber attack in 2017, ransomware quickly become an industry trend with potential losses projected at $265 billion by 2031. New threats targeting Internet of Things devices and critical-infrastructure sectors pose great threats that must be managed effectively to ensure employees understand cybersecurity best practices and can defend against attacks effectively. For these reasons, strengthening remote work policies and providing cybersecurity training are imperative in protecting all sectors against ransomware attacks.
Cybercriminals have increasingly turned their focus toward accessing enterprise software as a source of increased revenues and attacks, necessitating organizations to prioritize patching of enterprise software while employing defensive technologies such as multifactor authentication, canary tokens and network segmentation for maximum protection.
Security leaders must anticipate an upsurge in attacks targeting high-profile targets, like Fortune 500 companies, that provide higher returns and disruption potential. Furthermore, understanding which industries attackers target enables security leaders to hone their protection strategies from prevention to recovery and detection to response and response as necessary.
