The State of Cybersecurity: 5 Trends to Watch
Ever since the advent of the internet, our world has become increasingly digital. While the digital landscape offers many benefits, it is also important that the digital realm be protected from threats. This is where cybersecurity has an important role to play. Comprising the strategies and measures put in place to safeguard our digital networks, computers, and the critical data they house, cybersecurity protects our digital existence from threats and adversaries.
Ultimately, cybersecurity is critical to both our personal and organizational data protection. Amid increasing geopolitical tensions, cybersecurity protects supply chains, vital networks, and even physical infrastructure. In today’s increasingly interconnected world, cybersecurity remains a top priority as the threats and challenges facing our digital spaces continue to evolve.
Let’s explore five cybersecurity trends that will impact organizational integrity and resilience in the months and years ahead.
1. The Pros and Cons of Generative AI
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have long been recognized as important cybersecurity tools thanks to their ability to analyze huge amounts of data, identify patterns, and detect anomalies. The rise of generative AI, however, has changed the game, making AI a useful tool for both hackers and cybersecurity professionals. Resourceful cybercriminals have begun to exploit AI to improve algorithms for password hacking and create deepfakes to manipulate audio and video content for their benefit. They can even feed deceptive information to AI algorithms in a process known as data poisoning, influencing the decisions the AI makes and leading to bad outputs and severe damage.
Despite these abuses of AI, generative AI also offers lots of opportunities to improve cybersecurity. Alongside traditional tools like antivirus protection and fraud detection, AI can help cybersecurity professionals detect attacks faster and more accurately, flagging suspicious emails and phishing campaigns and identifying digital vulnerabilities. Thanks to AI’s ability to analyze large data sets and find patterns, AI can help cybersecurity teams react quickly to contain threats and prioritize responses based on real risks.
2. The Rise of Passwordless Authentication
In previous years, phishing attacks and malware were major data security concerns and the source of many digital attacks. These days, however, attacks increasingly occur with valid credentials, highlighting the limitations of password-based authentication. As a result, innovative authentication methods are a key aspect of modern cybersecurity and new trends like passwordless authentication are leading the way.
Passwordless authentication methods include biometrics (fingerprint or facial recognition), multi-factor, and device or token based. These authentication methods reduce or eliminate the need for standard passwords, which are often a cybersecurity threat and the source of many data breaches. As a result, companies, organizations, and individuals benefit from improved security and more efficient account management. Passwordless authentication also improves user experience by making it easier to log in, allowing users to access their accounts quickly and securely from anywhere.
Overall, passwordless authentication reduces IT costs and workload while ensuring greater control over credential misuse and unauthorized access. As organizations continue to prioritize the safeguarding of sensitive data in the years ahead, passwordless authentication will soon be a non-negotiable security measure.
3. State-Sponsored Cyber Warfare
The weaponization of cyber capabilities used to be the domain of rogue hackers and non-state groups. Unfortunately, these days, nation-states are increasingly involved in cyber warfare with devasting consequences and geopolitical implications. The majority of these attacks come from APTs or Advanced Persistent Threat groups who regularly attack organizations outside the government. States including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are the main sponsors of APTs and their targets are often enterprises, defense assets, communication tools, and critical infrastructure.
As a result of these growing state-sponsored attacks, robust cyber defenses and the strategic use of cyber capabilities are required. Both government and non-governmental actors will need to strengthen their cybersecurity operations and find ways to cooperate to reduce the threats. Businesses also need to include nation-state threats in their risk modeling to prepare for possible cyber-attacks. Addressing vulnerabilities early can help to prevent the worst-case scenario in case of large-scale cyber-attack.
4. Social Engineering Attacks Persist
Despite the rise of new technologies and more sophisticated cyber defenses, social engineering attacks continue to persist and leave their mark on the cybersecurity field. Unlike direct cyber-attacks, social engineering exploits human psychology, using the power of persuasion to gain the trust of targets so they lower their guard. Hackers can then encourage the target to take unsafe actions they wouldn’t normally, like divulging personal information, clicking on bad links, or opening malicious attachments. Social engineering attacks often appear to come from a trusted organization or person, making the manipulation more believable.
These kinds of attacks can have disastrous consequences and they challenge even the strongest cybersecurity systems. These old-school style hacks are actually quite low tech. That’s why the best way to deal with them is awareness training and education. Any training should be tailored to the organization or industry and needs to include social engineering scenarios employees are likely to encounter. Through training and education, employees will become more aware of these attacks and better understand their role in the organization’s cybersecurity.
5. Increasing Demand for Cybersecurity Professionals
Given all the new technologies available and their impact on organizational and personal cybersecurity, it’s no surprise that demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals remains high and continues to outpace the supply. This has resulted in a massive talent gap making it hard for businesses to find the qualified experts they’re looking for to solve their cybersecurity challenges.
One way to address this talent shortage is to invest in training and development, upskilling current staff to help them respond to these cybersecurity trends. Another solution is to partner with a team of workforce management experts like KORE1. As a leading staffing firm with deep IT experience, we connect businesses with top-tier IT and cybersecurity talent to help them overcome challenges and strengthen their security posture.
Cybersecurity begins with hiring the right tech talent.
Contact KORE1 to learn more about our technology staffing solutions.