As cyber criminals continue to employ increasingly sophisticated methods to breach security protocols within organizations, cybersecurity will remain a major concern for businesses of all sizes. As such, the cost of cybercrime is set to increase with the global cybersecurity market estimated to reach $403.01 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%. This article will look at some of the biggest trends affecting cybersecurity in 2022.
Increasing Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware continues to be one of the biggest and most pressing threats to cybersecurity at the moment. Figures from the EU Agency for Cybersecurity reveal that the largest ransomware demand increased from €13 million in 2019 to €62 million in 2021 and it is estimated that last year global ransomware resulted in €18 billion worth of damages. This amounts to 57 times more than in 2015. Visit this site to find out more about how to become cyber security analyst.
Ransomware is malicious software designed to publish or deny a user access to data or a computer system unless they pay a ransom to unlock or decrypt files. Developments in ransomware have also seen the emergence of ransomware as a service (RaaS) allowing cyber criminals to monetize their ransomware on the dark web.
Raas is a business model which sees operators offer affiliates paid subscriptions to their ransomware in order to execute ransomware attacks. Affiliates then make money by earning a percentage from each successful ransom demand. The difficulty in tracking down those involved coupled with the lucrative nature of this model will see Raas continue to grow.
Increased Supply Chain Threats
Attacks on an organization’s supply chains can create massive disruptions to their business and are one of the largest trends affecting cybersecurity in 2022. A supply chain attack, also known as a third-party or value-chain attack, targets an organization through a trusted third party with access to their systems and data.
The 2020 SolarWinds attack is an example of a supply chain attack that made the headlines. This case involved hackers compromising the company’s software infrastructure and adding malicious code into it. The actual number of customers who were hacked through SUNBURST to be fewer than 100
Supply chain attacks are popular with cybercriminals as compromised software potentially gives them access to every organization which uses that software.
Global Phishing Attacks
Phishing scams continue to be one of the biggest security threats to the IT sector with millions of people falling prey to phishing emails containing malicious URLs. Such emails contain links which are designed to look like an official website but are in fact fraudulent. The COVID-19 pandemic saw cybercriminals take advantage of people’s fears to con them into revealing sensitive information via phishing methods. This was particularly prevalent amongst the elderly.
Phishing attacks are now becoming geo-targeted and more personalized requiring stronger and more comprehensive cybersecurity awareness programs. In geo-based phishing cybercriminals use the location of potential targets to create profiles in much the same way as marketers do when targeting customers. Phishing emails are created in local languages and content is delivered based on the victim’s geolocation to fool them into handing over personal information.
As cybersecurity trends continue to evolve, the need for continual awareness and training of the threats remains essential for businesses everywhere.
