The cybersecurity industry is witnessing trends where AI plays a significant role in reshaping how new threats can impact organizations.
Welcome to the new era of AI-powered cybersecurity attacks. Data from a recent report found that 93% of security leaders anticipate daily AI attacks by 2025.
Organizations must rethink their overall cybersecurity strategies and prepare for advanced social engineering tactics, such as AI-generated phishing prompts, poisoning attacks to confuse chatbots, and deploying smart malware to disrupt network traffic patterns against OT security.
But AI is only one part of the equation. In this blog, we’ll discuss current cybersecurity trends and how you can prepare for future threats.
Current Trends and Their Implications for Security Strategies
AI-Driven Threats
AI can help security teams automate processes, analyze large volumes of data, and respond to incidents quicker, but it also can be leveraged by threat actors to create more personalized social engineering attacks. What’s more, since AI is ubiquitous and everyone seems to be using it, the chance for sensitive data leakage is significant. According to The State of AI and Security Survey Report, more than 95% of respondents believe dynamic content through Large Language Models (LLMs) makes detecting phishing attempts more challenging. Threat actors have begun using LLMs such as ChatGPT to generate more targeted phishing attacks that can bypass traditional email security filters, distribute advanced malware, and manipulate AI chatbots to disclose sensitive information.
IoT Security
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are at high risk. A recent survey found that 22% of organizations have had a serious or business-disrupting IoT security incident in the past 12 months. Compromised IoT devices can serve as entry points for attackers to exfiltrate data or launch lateral movement within the organization’s network. Additionally, the proliferation of shadow IoT, or unauthorized connected devices, further complicates security management, enabling attackers to exploit vulnerabilities in unmanaged devices.
Remote Work
Remote work has shifted the way organizations view cybersecurity post-pandemic. The freedom and flexibility of connecting from any location comes with a hefty cost. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) introduced additional security challenges as employees have accidentally downloaded malware and connected to malicious WiFi to access corporate networks and sensitive data.
But it’s not always the employees at the highest risk of triggering a security breach. Research showed that 80% of C-level executives are likely to send work-related messages from their personal devices. Undoubtedly, part of the reason for this is that personal devices have become more seamlessly connected to the office, thus making it easier to use them for work-related activities. However, without proper security controls, these personal devices can pose a serious risk to corporate security. AI-generated attacks and emerging cybersecurity trends further complicate the remote work paradigm.
Steady Rise of Ransomware
The global cost of ransomware damages has continued to grow and hit a staggering $265B in 2023. Cybercriminals are innovating by expanding their offerings with a new subscription-based model called Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS). There is even a profit-sharing option for affiliates and RaaS developers for further incentive. To mitigate the impact of ransomware attacks, organizations must prioritize cyber resilience by implementing data backup and recovery solutions and advanced threat detection.
Human-Centric Security
Human error plays a major role in data breaches. According to a study by IBM, 95% of cybersecurity breaches result from human error. Understanding human behavior is paramount to building a culture of security from within the organization. Gartner predicts that “By 2027, 50% of large enterprise CISOs will have adopted human-centric security design practices to minimize cybersecurity-induced friction and maximize control adoption.” According to Gartner, many organizations have implemented Security Behavior and Culture Programs (SBCPs) to help employees make better cyber risk decisions and minimize breaches directly attributed to human error.
5 Crucial Cybersecurity Measures Organizations Should Implement
Many existing cybersecurity measures protect various aspects of an organization’s critical assets and infrastructure from advanced threats.
Cloud Security
Cloud security encompasses a set of policies, technologies, and controls designed to protect data, applications, and infrastructure. Cloud environments are prime targets for advanced persistent threats (APTs) and other cloud-based attacks such as ransomware, account hijacking, and cloud misconfigurations, all of which can lead to data breaches. Advanced cloud security solutions can detect and mitigate these threats through continuous monitoring and anomaly detection. Another key component of cloud security is Identity and Access Management (IAM), which ensures that only authenticated and authorized users can access cloud resources.
Data Protection Regulations
Compliance is an important topic, as in more and more cases, it steers organizations towards actual protection measures that impact risk reduction and overall procedural maturity. Organizations are responsible for handling and safeguarding large volumes of customer data. Data privacy laws such as GDPR play a significant role in shaping how organizations manage and protect this data, particularly when operating across international jurisdictions.
OT/ICS Security
Attacks against critical infrastructure have increased significantly. A recent survey found that 24% of respondents were forced to shut down OT operations due to a successful cyberattack. Many OT/ICS systems use outdated legacy technology that may contain vulnerabilities that are difficult to patch, not taking into consideration the interconnected IoT devices that are integrated into industrial environments. OT security best practices include scanning and detecting vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, deploying intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to detect and block suspicious activities, SIEM, network segmentation, and strengthening access controls to critical systems.
Third-Party Risk Management
Disruptions to an organization’s supply chain can trigger a ripple effect across its entire operations. If a single third-party supplier is compromised, it can result in massive damages both in terms of cost and reputation. Third-party risk management (TPRM) tools provide organizations with a comprehensive view of their third parties’ current security posture and point out critical areas that must be immediately addressed.
Cyber Risk Quantification
Cyber risk quantification (CRQ) refers to the process of measuring and analyzing the financial impact and probability of cyber risks to an organization. Organizations can focus their resources on addressing the most critical threats that pose the highest risk to their business assets, thereby prioritizing mitigation efforts more efficiently. Cyber risk quantification also improves communication between management by translating vulnerability findings into simple business terms that everyone can understand.
Another way to secure your organization is by performing a thorough cybersecurity risk assessment to evaluate your current threat landscape. This includes mapping out all critical assets, including data, applications, and infrastructure, and identifying all vulnerabilities and attack routes to visualize the potential consequences of an attack.
Forward-thinking is also crucial for preventing future attacks. A cybersecurity maturity assessment will determine if your security controls and policies are up-to-date to reduce security risks over time and whether you have an effective incident response plan in the event of a potential breach. As threats continue to evolve, your risk management strategies must also adapt to keep pace with the latest cybersecurity trends.
Protect Your Organization from Evolving Threats with CYE
You can keep your critical assets secured from threats with CYE’s optimized cyber risk quantification platform, Hyver.
With Hyver, you can address cybersecurity trends and greatly reduce the likelihood and potential impact of a cyberattack by:
- Gaining complete visibility of probable attack routes leading to critical business assets
- Understanding the true cost of threats and remediation
- Streamlining and prioritizing mitigation planning and building an efficient business continuity plan
- Effectively communicating with executive teams and stakeholders about cyber risk
- Increasing and strengthening cybersecurity maturity
Want to learn more? Request a demo today.
