Top Cybersecurity Trends that will Shape the Future

It is the time when the internet has its say in every aspect of our lives. The world is being run by the internet right now. People from everywhere in the world are dependent on the internet in one manner or the other. All thanks to the popularity of social media, that people are now sharing their personal lives on the internet. And they do not even think about the consequences. With everything happening over the internet like banking and other things, it has made it much more complex. Because financial details, credit card credentials, and other sensitive details are connected and stored on the internet. All of this can be very bad because we are sharing all of our sensitive data, and if it reaches the wrong hands, it can be very harmful. Cybercriminals are out there looking for their prey like a hungry lion. They look for just a little mistake, and things are done. Your sensitive information is in their hands, and they can do anything with it. That is the reason cybersecurity is such a crucial problem for today's world.

There are some areas that hackers have their focus on, like technology. If we look at the recent stats most of the time, these attackers have targetted tech companies. Not so long ago, there was an attack on Yahoo, in which data of 500 million users was theft. It included everything from user name, password to the phone number, and more. As now there is an increased population of the internet, these attackers can only grow more. Even the most secured systems can fall for these attacks as they are also using the latest techniques for the attacks.

Education is another sector that is the most affected one. College campuses are on their hit list because students are mostly connected to the internet, and they can fool any student to get inside the system and steal anything they want.

Scope of Cybersecurity

When we talk about the scope of cybersecurity, nobody can deny how important it is in today's world. The world is interconnected through the internet, and things flow with the speed of light with it. Cyber attacks can take place against an individual, and they can go to the organizations. Its range is unimaginable because every system that is in link with the internet is at the risk of these attacks. Cyber threats have evolved and are more dangerous than ever now. Due to this, the scope of cybersecurity is wide, especially on the corporate level, as no organization is ready to jeopardize their sensitive data. Let's look into the ways we need cybersecurity.

• Critical Infrastructure Security

There are critical infrastructure systems that a lot of people rely on because of their importance in our lives. These systems are water supply systems, traffic lights, electricity grids, and hospitals, and we know how crucial their security is. These systems are digitized to meet the demands, and this is where they become eligible victims for hackers. That is the reason they need cybersecurity, and their security systems need to be tested regularly to check for vulnerabilities. These loopholes are the potential entrance for hackers as they only need a little something to start their dirty work. There are examples like Iran's nuclear facility, which was under a cyber attack with malware Stuxnet. It ruined their complete system and caused the destruction.

• Network Security

It is the time when we can do no business without the help of a network. A country that restricts the use of the internet will only be left behind. Because everything in today's world is powered by the internet. There are a lot of pros of using the internet, but there are some cons as well.  Every other day there is news of cyber attacks on an individual or a corporate network by criminals. These attacks are mostly through malware or denial of services. There are even techniques by which one can make untraceable changes in a system, and even the network admin cannot detect them without the help of intrusion-detector tools. These tools and other security systems are there to stop these attacks and fight against them. As the demand is high, security companies are building tools with the help of the latest technologies.

• Cloud Security

Cloud computing is one of the technologies of the present and the future. It has found its reputation due to the low cost and exceptional service it provides. It is because of cloud computing that companies are now able to use the resources they could not before, due to the financial constraints. Now you can rent the services from the cloud service provider and use it for how long you want to. However, when it comes to security, there are challenges in cloud computing as well. Although service providers take very good care of their databases and systems, nobody can be sure of anything. There are different types of cloud, so their security concerns are according to that. There are protections like identity verification and other things to prevent anything from happening.

There is one thing that we can say that scope of cybersecurity is very wide, and it's going to be even broader in the future.

Cybersecurity; Overview

Cybersecurity is the set of practices and rules that is there to ensure the confidentiality and security of data, and it is also called information security. There are security tools, technologies, training, and risk management approaches in cybersecurity, which makes sure that the network, program, devices, and data are protected from unauthorized access and attacks. It is one of the most talked-about issues in the world right now.

• Why is Cybersecurity Important?

Today, there is nothing more than the technology that the world relies on, and we have never relied on technology like this ever previously. We are creating a lot of digital data every day and government stores and analyze most of them. The devices and systems we use have their vulnerabilities, and when someone exploits those vulnerabilities, it can let down the reputation of an organization and damage their marketplace.

There can be a lot of devastating consequences of a data breach. It can destroy the trust of partner companies and consumers, which is the worst thing for any company. If a company loses it's source files and consumer data, it is equivalent to burning down the company. According to a study, a single data breach costs about 3.6 million dollars to the company. It is due to all these things that we need cybersecurity systems, and this is why cybersecurity is essential.

• Common Types of Cybersecurity

There are different types of cybersecurity. Let's see what are the types and discuss them furthermore.

• Network Security: It is the process of safeguarding the network from cyber-attacks and unwanted intrusions.
• Application Security: It is the process of keeping the applications up to date to protect it from cyber threats. We need to keep testing it for any loopholes.
• Endpoint Security: Remote access is a requirement for every business today. It can be a potential alliance for hackers if not secured. Endpoint security is there to keep the remote access protected.
• Data Loss Prevention: It is the process of protecting data in terms of location and classification. Monitoring of the data and its movement is also necessary for its security.
• Identity and Access Management: It is one of the fundamental things that almost every company has installed. It is the system where you have to identify yourself when you try to enter the system. It almost keeps malicious entities away from the system.
• Antivirus/Anti-Malware: It is software that scans computers for malicious threats. There is some modern antivirus available now that can even recognize threats from the past.

• Benefits of Cybersecurity

We cannot count the benefits of cybersecurity, even if we try. The investment you make in the installation of a cybersecurity system in your company cannot match the advantages of cybersecurity. Let's mention some of the most common benefits of cybersecurity.

• It protects our business from all the cyber threats like ransomware, phishing, malware, and social engineering.
• It protects the data of the company and network as well.
• It stops every unauthorized person from getting access to the system.
• It does not only stop the threats but if somehow any breach happens, it helps in the recovery process as well.
• The protection of end-users is a critical thing for a company, and a cybersecurity system makes sure if that thing.
• Having everything secured in the company builds confidence and trust in the company for customers and developers.
• Cybersecurity Challenges

Cybersecurity is something that is always on a high alert due to the challenges of hackers. And there are a lot of other things like risk management, data loss, privacy, and changes in cybersecurity strategies. There seems to be no chance of any decrement in cyber attacks. Moreover, as powerful these attacks are getting, cybersecurity is getting more powerful as well, and its always there to combat these threats.

There is one thing that troubles a lot in cybersecurity, which is the continually evolving nature of cyber risks. As there is development in technology and it is used somewhere, there is a new evolved threat to challenge that. It is a challenging situation for organizations, as they have to update the system when there is a new type of attack. It is a continuous process, that is a more numerous challenge for smaller organizations.

History of Data Breaches

The data breach is not the issue of today, as it has been standing tall for years now. When a company becomes the victim of a data breach, it costs the company millions of dollars, plus it destroys the company's reputation among the customers. There have been a lot of data breaches over the last decade. It is like when you return home, and the door is already opened. You look inside, and everything seemed ok but why the door was unlocked and what happened during the whole day. It can give you sleepless nights and depression for days.

When we talk about digital assets, there is nothing different. All the accounts are connected to the internet and have your data. Millions and billions of users get affected by these breaches. According to a study, there have been almost 9000 data breaches since 2005, and over 11,583,44,487+ were the accounts that got leaked. On a cumulative note, we are working against it altogether, but it is still happening, the data breaches. Let’s look into some practical examples, that took place in the recent past.

• The Yahoo Breach

In the year 2014, Yahoo announced a data breach and stated that 500 million user accounts and their data were compromised. Their email addresses, phone numbers, usernames, passwords, and every other thing. Right after some time, Yahoo announced again that there was another hack that took away more than a billion users' data. And recently in 2017, Yahoo announced that all of the user accounts were affected in the data breach of 2013. It was a sum of 3 billion accounts at that time.

• Marriot-Starwood Breach

Every one of us would love to stay in a magnificent exciting hotel, but if it is at the expense of jeopardizing your data? No, right? Well, this is what happened with the guests of Marriot-Starwood hotel. In 2014, Marriot bought Starwood that made it the world's largest chain of hotels. For almost five years, hackers were inside their system, stealing the personal data of guests. It was data like passport, phone number, email id, and credit card credentials. They discovered this in 2018 after four years, and they stated that over 500 million guests' data were compromised.

• Myspace Breach

Myspace used to be there when there was no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram out there in the late 2000s. This breach was about stealing the past data. Accounts that we create on social media and leave them as if nothing can happen. 360 million accounts were there when the breach took place, and all were affected. All the data of those accounts were gone.

• Under Armour Breach

It was in the year of 2018, not far away from today. We expect that companies must have had themselves immune from these breaches. But that was not the case as this breach tells us. In 2018, the company announced that about 150 million accounts of MyFitnessPal application were hacked. All the data, including usernames, email, and passwords, were there on the list. Due to this mishap, the company faced a share drop by 4% in the market as the immediate effect. And one of the clients filed a complaint against the company as well.

These are just a few breaches that we mentioned. It is a list that goes on and on. There were some notable ones like uber's attack, twitter's attack of password exposure, and so many more that add millions and millions of victims in the data breach list.

Cybersecurity Risks Today

In today's time, when everybody knows about cybersecurity threats and cybersecurity even now we are unable to stop them from happening. Some companies invest a lot of their money on getting the best cybersecurity for them. But hackers are not staying silent, as they come back with a new attack or evolve the old ones. There are uncountable cybersecurity risks right now. Let's look into some of them.

• Phishing / Social Engineering Attacks

 It is the most common but still powerful cyber threat. According to a study, in every 97 emails, there is one phishing attack. There are millions of emails are being sent and being sent and received every day. We cannot even imagine how many of them are phishing attacks. Another study says that 30% of phishing emails go through primary security.

These attacks are usually done through email, text, or websites. It is also called social engineering attacks. It has a malicious link attached to it, and when you click that, they trick you to surrender your sensitive information. With proper training and some security, we can save ourselves from these attacks.

• IoT based Attacks

The Internet of things is the thing for the new world, and it is quite popular everywhere right now. The problem is not in IoT, but it is about these smart devices, they do not have good enough security installed in them. It can give access to hackers being complicit. There is a malware named Reaper, that looks for vulnerabilities in IoT devices and exploits them.

In simple words, it is a cyber-attack that exploits the weak security of the internet-connected devices to get into the network. Keeping the devices up to date can do the trick for us.

Cybersecurity Future Predictions

It is the time when the internet is involved in our business and personal lives the most. Every other thing we do depends on the internet. Especially now in the pandemic situation, we shop online for everything and conduct our business through the internet. That is the reason everybody is eager to know what the future has in store when it comes to cybersecurity. Awareness about all the current cyber threats and knowing the solutions to battle them is going to make the future better for organizations.

As we know, it is an industry that keeps evolving, so it is hard to predict its future. There is no one to tell the exact facts about it. But experts make their assumptions after consulting each other. Let's see what are the predictions they made about cybersecurity for the coming years.

1. Artificial Intelligence will be a Core Component of Cybersecurity Systems

It is now the time of artificial intelligence and other evolving technologies. As we can see, how artificial intelligence has become a part of many industries, and it has also become a core part of cyber security certifications. However, when new technologies will become a part of the business world, hackers will focus on these technologies. There will be a need to design solutions to keep these hackers away from the businesses. 

2. The Cybersecurity Industry will Focus on Cyber Warfare Threats

It is now the time when wars are going to be fought with technology. Nations will try to defeat other nations by using warfare threats. As there was an attack on Iran's nuclear program, with some work called Stuxnet. All the focus will be on developing threats like this to win any war silently.

3. There will be more Hackers to Deal with

According to a study, there is a computer hack happening every 39 seconds. Most of them are taking place through a script that keeps moving through the database and looks for vulnerabilities to exploit. These scripts are coming from the well expert person, and we can only expect they will grow more in number in the future. Some of them are educated but jobless people, and some of them even have cybersecurity certifications, but they are doing this work.

4. Developing Cybersecurity Talent becomes Essential

Cybersecurity is growing day and night and will keep growing in the future. According to an estimate, the market of cybersecurity will be worth 40 million dollars by the end of 2020. Companies are spending on designing cybersecurity systems, but little do they know that there will not be cybersecurity professionals to run the systems. As soon as companies will realize it, they will get their employees to get the cybersecurity training and cybersecurity certifications. So they can utilize their current employees for this purpose.

Now that we have gone through almost everything about cybersecurity, there are some things to keep in mind to implement foolproof cybersecurity. There should be cybersecurity awareness training schedules every month. Email security needs special attention in terms of security. All the activities on the website should be monitored. Everything in an organization should be protected using a VPN. And last but not least, there should always be a cyberattack response plan. That'll be all from us. Good Luck!