Cybercrime expenses include destruction and disruption of records, stolen revenue, loss of productivity, theft of intellectual property, and robbery of business, personal and financial data. Cyber threats also lead to compromised data and networks and even damaged credibility. Analysts expect global cybercrime costs to rise by 15% per year over the next five years.
In 2020, things dramatically changed, and people were forced to stay at home. People become aware of the term “social distance” that has rapidly become the new norm. This definition has tremendous consequences for how people work and how organizations thought about data security software and business process.
The world slowly turns digital during the recent pandemic. Companies continue developing small working projects while investing more in cloud apps, virtual meetups, and other online tools to continue business operations and team collaboration. Many are upgrading the mobile app and building more infrastructure. As it happens, cyber threats continue to soar as well.
Upcoming Cyber Threats In The Coming Years
As the new year rolls over, some significant cyber threats are expected to retake center stage. Keeping in the loop for the upcoming threats can help you prepare your defenses and not become too vulnerable to any possible attack. Here are some of the cyber threats you can expect to try and shatter your cybersecurity this year.
Ransomware
It is considered the fastest rising cyber threat you can account for and one of the most dangerous cybercrime forms. Ransomware will potentially convince senior executives to take the cyber challenge more seriously. Moreover, it is malware that infects computer systems and mobile devices. It limits your access to files, frequently threatening irreversible data loss before a demanded ransom is paid.
Because it a “go-to-attack” tool of cybercriminals, it has reached global epidemic proportions. Experts estimate that worldwide ransomware damage losses will hit $20 billion by the end of 2021. This figure is 57X higher than the figure in 2015.
The Rise Of Weaponized AI
In 2021, malicious hackers will exploit machine learning (ML) to speed up threats on networks and systems. Weaponized artificial intelligence will attack ML engines with data from previous successful attacks. It will allow for the identification of patterns that relate to the defenses against similar situations.
Information from future attacks will be used to update the cyberattack engine. This service will enable attackers to zero in on entry points in ecosystems more rapidly and surreptitiously. Cybercriminals can also try to evade tools that need a quantity of action to recognize misconduct.
Deepfake Videos
Although deep images, video clips, and audio have reached public interest in the last few years, 2020 has seen a significant spike in its use in content and realism. However, in 2021, analysts, businesses, and threat actors do not end with deep recordings, images, and audio. Expect to face a fresh surge of in-depth information that challenges us to assume whether the individual from the other side of the virtual world chat window or video call is human or not.
Unfortunately, deepfake technology is starting to creep into everyday lives. You might soon have immersive sessions with former presidents or even deceased loved ones. People will gradually find themselves in the circumstances. Unfamiliar to many, many will contact deep-rooted technologies rather than with a human individual.
The Risk In-Network Edge
The world experienced an explosive extension of the network’s edge and accelerated decentralization. The seismic transition to working remotely driven by COVID-19 was a core driver of this trend. Remote employees are finding comfort in the warmth of their homes. But this casualness will make them more likely to let their cybersecurity guard down. This laxity in defense could not have come at a worse time when cyber attackers have ramped up social engineering and ransomware attacks.
Home-based workers are often more likely to use personal computers and home networks that are not hardened to the same degree as company devices and networks. New cyber threats put risk to remote employees and remote access routes in the coming year. Cybercriminals are also expected to continue to engage and deploy social engineering attacks. Again, they will try to manipulate traditional home technologies that can be an entry to hack individuals and allow for lateral business movement.
Social Media Threats
Social media has become the medium of political tampering, the rise of fake news, deep fakes, and other cyber threats. In 2021, expect cybercriminals to move past attacking individual persona to threaten companies as well. Weak authentication methods and verification practices will make it easier for social media attacks to be successful.
Unregistered and suspicious URLs can drive attacks and lead unsuspecting individuals to arrive at a malicious website. These websites can gather personal information or even request credentials to compromise multifactor authentication solutions. Malicious QR codes or abbreviated URLs may also be used to obfuscate the malicious website. These attacks could occur either on the official business page itself or via fake accounts with similar names. When social media restrictions surrounding uploading, authentication, and URL redirection are poorly handled, new attacks are likely to thrive.
Machine Learning
When machine learning is becoming more common within businesses to make automated decisions, attackers have a new avenue to infiltrate. After a hacker or cybercriminal captures a copy of the original training data, they can begin to exploit the models created by inserting poisoned data into the training pool. It can then generate a machine that has been trained to something it shouldn’t have learned. This exploitation would have a multiplying impact due to the automated analysis of downstream software, undermining any legally processed data’s credibility.
Accompanying this devious attack would be a ransom note to be paid for restoring the original data templates. This latest ransomware would be challenging to identify and almost impossible to recover from, making paying ransom seem like an appealing choice for the victim.
Final Thoughts
Cybercriminals, exploiters, and hackers are always finding ways to find loopholes in your cybersecurity blanket. As 2021 signifies the start of another decade, you can expect that many cyber threats and exploits will begin to surface. While some are older threats than the others, they can still provide damaging effects that will be hard to counter and recover from. To minimize the risk for possible attacks, it would be wise to loop on the emerging cyber threats this year. That will allow you to prepare and protect all of your hard work.