2023 has finally arrived and while cybersecurity experts all around may be hoping for a less tumultuous year, cybercriminals are never resting. 2022 was an emblematic year for data breaches, hacks, and attacks. It saw the rise of various phishing schemes, crypto heists, and hacktivism around the war between Russia and Ukraine.
With the current technological revolution, cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more creative in their ways to extort data and information. Crystal balls aside, it's a challenge for all cybersecurity experts to aim to predict individuals' behaviors.
That's why the AMATAS team has decided to look toward the big picture of things. We know that geopolitical turmoil, alongside the technology disruption, will continue to evolve the mature, yet volatile threat landscape.
Within our new year's article, we present you with thirteen key trends we can expect to afflict the cybersecurity space.
Smart Devices (Internet of Things, IoT) and Cloud Networks
A Gartner study has found that in 2023, there'll be 43 billion IoT devices functioning around the world. This high volume of connectivity nevertheless enhances the risk of targeted attacks on smart devices. Consider integrating system and network solutions to make your devices more secure. As you may already know that prevention is the number one precaution you can take against cyberattacks.
AI Risk and Security Management
The AI cybersecurity market is expected to expand to $133.8 billion by 2030 - no surprise there. As it was discovered that 41% of US, UK, and German organizations have experienced security breaches and incidents due to a lack of AI security measures. Threat detection, while ensuring data integrity, availability, and confidentiality, will require cross-department collaborations between cybersecurity and AI professionals.
Hybrid Work
Within the past two years, we've all been forced to adapt to the new post-pandemic normal. Meaning most of us will probably be working from home, connecting our personal devices to work networks. This is a huge chink in organizations' cybersecurity armor, as it provides gateways and backdoors for hackers to exploit the most vulnerable and valuable information.
Installing Zero Trust policies in the way we work, should be the focus of all companies through 2023, as recommended by James Range, President of White Rock Security Group:
“Zero trust will take on greater prominence with the continued role of the remote and hybrid workplace…2023 becomes the year of verifying everything.”
Disinformation Campaigns
In 2023, over 70 countries will hold their government elections. That's when hacktivists are most likely to resurface and become more active than ever before. One of their favorite targets is critical government infrastructures, as well as social media. During this period, be wary of disinformation campaigns and fake news.
“We will see an increasing number of cybercriminals taking political sides and breaking the law with political statements.” This is one of the trends, as noted by Kaspersky Security Evangelist, Vladimir Dashchenko. He continues, “Global political conglomerates will unfortunately influence cyberspace and cybersecurity.”
Discover five more threats that are on leading institutions (e.g. the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) radars.
Through 2023, they are expecting:
- Loss of digital privacy due to the rise of authoritarian regimes
- Ambiguities around space-based infrastructures
- Advanced hybrid, malware, and ransomware threats
- Ransomware software, Lockbit, will continue to pose as one of the leading threats to cybersecurity
- Shortage of cybersecurity experts in the industry
What should organizations do in 2023 to protect their systems against cybersecurity threats?
As per cybersecurity experts' opinions, here are three areas which organizations should consider investing in to ensure their digital sustainability.
Digital Immune Systems
Or, to put it simply, ones that involve various ICT functions in ensuring the resilience of all systems against cyberattacks. This cross-department and third-party vendor collaboration would require the in-depth integration of:
- data (storage and management) within operations;
- automation within testing and incident response;
- security within the supply chain;
- software engineering within IT operations.
No stone should be left unturned when thinking strategically and globally about your organization's cybersecurity.
Third-Party Risk Management
One of the areas in which hackers tend to excel in is supply chain compromise. Through 2022, we've seen numerous attacks made possible as a result of breaches in third-party hosts or vendors. Organizations need to consider the way they store customer and revenue-generating data. Also, how the information they've shared with third-party vendors is protected.
In the words of Vladimir Dashchenko, Security Evangelist at Kaspersky: “The main problem for 2023 will be supply-chain stability and cybersecurity. Supply-chain will become more of a sweet spot for targeted ransomware and state-sponsored espionage campaigns.”
Once again, it all comes down to considering security on the cloud and installing Zero Trust across all departments.
Security Awareness Culture
It takes just mere seconds and a single human error for million-dollar compromises to happen. To protect your organization's and customer data, make sure that everyone is on the same page about cybersecurity in 2023.
2023 will surely shape out to be a challenging year for cybersecurity professionals. As attacks are now taking a more geopolitical character, smarter devices are on the rise, and human error is gaining endless possibilities sort of character. But, with the right partners by your side who know how to secure your systems, forward-think strategically within the cyber threat landscape, and have crucial experience across various industries, cybersecurity becomes a walk in the park.
We wish you a cyber-secure 2023 with more time to spend working on your products, services, and teams and less - worrying about imminent threats! The AMATAS team has you covered.
