Did you know that a hacking attack occurs every 39 seconds? Today, cyber attacks are more frequent and advanced than ever before. And while organisations are increasingly aware of the importance of cybersecurity, reports have revealed that more than 70% of companies are struggling to define and implement the required security measures to such an attack. From data breaches and a shortage in cyber security staff to security automation and integration – let’s take a quick look at 10 cybersecurity trends that are likely to shape the cybersecurity landscape in 2020.
1. Data Breaches being the #1 Cyberthreat
Data breaches continue to be reported as the largest cybersecurity concern, and this is likely to continue for as long as personal data remains valuable in the black market. Therefore, ensuring data privacy and personal data security, is going to be the top priority for all, if not most, organisations. In the past, these strict compliance was due to stringent privacy legislation such as the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in Singapore. Subsequently, organisations become more aware of the negative impact of a breach for their image and public trust. Thus, with web application flaws being a leading source of data breaches, ensuring web application security has become a top priority for all organisations.
2. The Cybersecurity Skills Gap
With cyber criminals become increasingly sophisticated and organised in their efforts of gaining unauthorised access to cyber resources, the demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to exceed supply. This is also why organisations are turning to automated security tools such as online vulnerability management solutions as they quickly become an essential tool to maintain a good security. However, these tools still require cybersecurity professionals to operate and escalate. Therefore, with this industry having a constant demand, it is an excellent opportunity to supercharge your career in this direction with Hackwagon’s Cyber Security course. Students will learn to understand the landscape and tools used in the industry, understand how Cyber Security can be implemented at the minimum level for organisations and eventually graduate from the academy after learning how to setup and manage an enterprise-level cyber security strategy in a corporation setting and be acknowledged as a cyber security specialist by Hackwagon Academy.
3. AI – A Double-Edged Sword
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have brought machine learning technologies into more and more products in all market segments, including cybersecurity. Deep learning algorithms are being used for face detection, natural language processing, and threat detection. However, AI can be and is also being weaponised by cybercriminals to develop increasingly sophisticated malware and attack methods. This is evident in the latest high profile Garmin Ransomware attack where the cyber criminals put Garmin’s wearables, apps, website, and even its call centers offline for several days.
4. Mobile Devices as an Increasing Cybersecurity Risk
As the amount of mobile devices being used by employees increases to facilitate convenience and efficiency, so does the amount of business data stored on these devices. Although the direct business impact of mobile malware is low, we can expect an increase in the number of data breaches related to mobile device use and misuse. This is where everyone needs to understand – with every device used to access company systems is yet another endpoint to secure, so one way of reducing risk is to provide access via a secure web application infrastructure with real-time vulnerability management.
5. The Evergreen Phishing Threat
Phishing attacks remain as a simple, yet effective method of stealing credentials and identities, distributing malware, eliciting fraudulent payments and more, and the threat is not going away any year soon. The same goes for ransomware attacks, which continue to provide a solid source of income for international cybercrime. Effective protection requires both effective cybersecurity training for all employees and business partners and in-depth security and vulnerability management to prevent attackers from obtaining confidential information used in phishing attempts.