The cybersecurity landscape is highly unpredictable. Every day, new threats are launched by cybercriminals as they look for new ways to circumvent the current security landscape.
Even worse, new vulnerabilities tend to show up each day, unraveling zero-day threats in the IT systems of most organizations.
As long as you keep yourself informed with the right cybersecurity information, you can have a fighting chance against these threats.
Not only can you identify ways to protect yourself from them, but being proactive in identifying threats will also be quite easy.
Here are some cybersecurity trends to focus on in 2020:
7 Cybersecurity Trends to Look in 2020
1# Phishing Continues To Be a Huge Threat
For a long time, phishing has been appearing on the list of cybersecurity trends, and it doesn’t seem to be giving up its position soon.
Criminals are getting quite innovative in their attack vectors. Other than just using emails, some are using text messages and even phone calls to gain access to data.
Through their sneaky schemes, they can collect credit card details, social security numbers, and even home addresses.
Others gain access to corporate accounts through these scams. 32% of data breaches involve phishing attacks at some point.
2# Mobile Phones Are a Strong Attack Vector
Smartphones are an integral part of today’s society. From personal to corporate use, it is hard to imagine a world without smartphones.
Sadly, they are easy to attack vectors for criminals looking to steal valuable data. For instance, hackers have developed ways to steal data from iPhones as long as they connect the phones to specific public charging ports.
In other cases, the threat can be something as simple as malware. Some hackers might leverage unsafe sites to send malware to phones. Others might launch malware filled apps on third-party app stores to lure innocent consumers.
Ideally, forming and following a strong cybersecurity framework can be among the best ways to protect your business from these attacks. It might also pay to train employees on the latest security attacks to avoid common security failures.
3# Spending On Data Privacy Will Increase
The GDPR is just one of the many privacy regulations that both foreign and current businesses have to follow.
Failing to comply with this regulation- which looks to protect the data privacy of EU citizens, will easily lead to you paying fines of up to 4% of your global income or 20 million euros, depending on the higher amount.
In America, a similar data protection act is also taking shape. The CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) will take effect on 1st January 2020.
It will offer California residents information on how their data is being used and the right to request to have their data deleted. These data regulations mean that your business will have to invest in compliance if you want to do business comfortably in these areas.
4# Increased Investment in Cybersecurity Automation
There are a lot of insights that lie in cybersecurity data. Everything from data collected through log monitoring to application uptime data can be useful in preventing attacks.
Sadly, deriving information from this data, as well as keeping IT assets running require manpower, something that understaffed IT department might lack.
Also, some of these tasks are quite monotonous and mundane. As a result, organizations are looking to revolutionize their cybersecurity posture and have to rely on automation to give them more control.
Automation can help your business increase application uptime, monitor and analyze the health of IT assets, identify security vulnerabilities, and make updates to applications.
5# User Behavior Analytics Will Make Waves
Can you differentiate a legitimate user from a hacker who is using your corporate systems? By only relying on your employee’s authentications, it might be tough to know what a hacker is already inside your IT system. Ideally, they can use this time to escalate their access and steal business data stealthily.
User behavior analytics allows you to identify anomalies in how a user behaves while using their account. For instance, you can identify that a user is logging into your business from a completely different location, which might be a hacker trying to steal sensitive data.
Other than stopping hackers on their tracks, user behavior analytics can be useful in battling insider threats as well as training employees on security best practices.
6# Third-Party Vendor Assessment Will Be Essential
The Target data breach is a perfect example of how hackers use Island Hopping to access corporate data. Ideally, hackers only need to use the systems of weaker vendors to access the data of their primary target.
With more businesses growing weary of these threats, business leaders will be focusing on the security of their vendors. Ideally, your business will need to prove its security posture to work with other businesses.
7# Employee Training Will Help Reduce Human Error
Human error accounts for 90% of data breach cases. An employee can give out their login credentials to a cyber-criminal through phishing attacks, or even forget essential security steps when logging out of your corporate system.
Ideally, employee training is essential to reduce the chances of human error. This should be combined with tracking employee behavior to identify areas that require them to be trained some more.
A lot will change in the cybersecurity world. As long as you can keep up, your business can have a competitive advantage while protecting your sensitive data. Consider the tips above to strengthen your cybersecurity posture.
Author: John Geller
