2017 will be remembered as one of the landmark years in our history. Ransomware attacks wreaked havoc on companies around the world, demonstrating the inadequacy of security systems. Hackers are also believed to have influenced the results of elections in some countries, while stealing tens of thousands of confidential documents from government institutions.
Passwords such as Petya, WannaCry, NotPetya are already familiar to every IT professional and know the extent of the destruction behind these seemingly innocent names.
So what awaits us in 2018? We don't have a crystal ball - we won't look into the future to see upcoming threats. Instead, based on experience and hunches, we can make an educated guess as to what trends will set activities around the world - both for hackers and companies in terms of enhancing data security.
Let's check it out.
1. inability of organizations to adapt to new European Union GDPR (RODO) and cyber security guidelines
This year, two very important directives come into force, especially important for European Union countries: the already widely known RODO and the NIS regulation that speaks of general guidelines for digital security.
For most companies, this means implementing new procedures, developing documentation, conducting training and implementing IT solutions. However, not all organizations will need to adapt right away. For starters, it is enough to develop a disaster recovery plan that can be quickly put in place in any company - a small service company, an e-commerce store or a manufacturing company.
2 Increased number of DDoS attacks
(Distributed Denial of Service - an attack on a system or service involving the seizure of all possible resources, initiated from multiple locations at once).
DDoS attacks are one of the most popular forms of attack used by hackers. Since 2015, the scale of these attacks has increased more than 4-fold. New types of threats are also associated with IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices, which can affect the operation of networks and critical applications.
3. more ransoms paid for Ransomware attacks
(encrypting data with malware to get paid for the decryption key).
The increase in Ransomware attacks will take a turn for the worse. In addition, an increasingly popular method is to demand payment for data decryption in the form of cryptocurrencies, which are becoming, so to speak, the "obligatory means of payment" of the 19th century.
4. growth of the IT insurance market
A trend has emerged that can be called "terrorism insurance." While this can be purchased for standard threats, there are not quite the tools and solutions that can be effectively adopted as a "safety valve" for IT. How big is the scale of the business? It is estimated that the US market was worth $1.5 - $3 trillion in 2017. This value is expected to grow to as much as 20 trillion
2025. This is fueling a boom in all markets where insurance companies are working to combine traditional products with IT solutions.
5. more than 2 million vacancies for security specialists
It is estimated that global demand may be even higher. Cyber threats are effectively driving the boom in the labor market. New positions are being created to be filled by people with the highest skills. This trend is likely to continue for a long time, because as long as hackers are active, those who are supposed to stop them will have to work. Effectively.
ISCG reminds:
No currently known technology or the best insurance package can 100% protect us from cyber threats. What we can do is consciously reduce this risk by implementing proper procedures, organizing regular training to educate employees and above all - investing in security regularly.
ISCG recommends:
- Prepare an emergency action plan and procedures that you can quickly follow
In case of emergency, - Don't hastily implement solutions before regulations go into effect - wait, as local laws in your country, for example, may still change, which will simplify the whole process,
- If you are planning to hire security specialists, do it now - rates
and the cost of the industry's top professionals will increase with each day bringing the regulation closer to coming into force, - Invest in solutions backed by artificial intelligence - these systems autonomously learn to detect and eliminate threats before they occur. Moreover, they are much more effective than typical antivirus software or simple firewall systems.
Source:https://cybersecurity-expert.com/
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