As they say, ‘it is better to prepare than to repair.’ Understanding what’s coming in the global cyber security landscape will help redefine and consolidate security solutions. Below are six main cyber security trends in 2020:

War in the cyber world intensifies

The separation of Western and Eastern technologies is a clear sign of the ongoing tension between the US and China. Cyberattacks will increasingly be used to settle conflicts between countries. We can expect advanced persistent threats backed by nation-state actors in the global security landscape. 

Cybercriminals who are unofficially supported by the state can execute attacks to cause massive data breaches, steal political and industrial secrets, and influence global opinion. With this, nations will need to consider how to strengthening their defenses on critical IT infrastructures.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI)

The expected growth of artificial intelligence will have a big effect on the tech market—this includes cybersecurity. Machine learning technologies are very useful for information processing, face detection, and threat detection. With the help of AI, identifying and responding to new threats will be easier and faster. This could help us to block attacks before they spread widely.

At the same time, cybercriminals can also make use of AI as attack weapons. AI can help cybercriminals probe networks and find vulnerabilities in existing systems. AI can also help them build more sophisticated and evasive malware and develop additional attack methods.

Mobile devices will be the greatest Cyber security risk 

Our means of communication, which increasingly is permeated by mobile devices and smartphones, will become more weaponized in 2020. In the last few years, mobile devices are in the front row of development. However, as the amount of time we dedicate to our mobile devices continues to increase, so does the amount of data stored on these devices.

We can expect a rise in the number of data breaches related to mobile devices. In fact, in 2019, we saw a 50 percent increase in mobile banking malware. This is expected to grow further in 2020. There will also be an increase in phishing attacks leveraging mobile devices. Whatever users use most frequently for their communications can be a popular attack surface. This includes SMS, email, social media, and even community forums, and gaming platforms.

Growth of cloud-based threats

Many organizations run the majority of their workloads in the cloud. However, the level of understanding of cloud security remains low. As more and more businesses transfer their data to the cloud, we can expect an increase in cloud-based threats. Meanwhile, organizations will struggle to maintain control of critical data and ensure real-time threat detection.

Enterprises will need to rethink their approach to cloud security. Improperly configured and unsecured buckets of data stored in the cloud could increase the risk of data breaches. Detection will no longer be enough to ensure protection. Security architectures need to evolve to new, flexible, cloud-based solutions that can provide protection at a faster speed.

5G development to increase in network vulnerability

Cyber Security is often not the first priority in the development of new technologies. The global adoption of 5G infrastructure technology in 2020 brings us faster internet connection and better user experience. However, it also brings a host of security blunders. 

In the current IT infrastructure, IoT devices and their connections to networks and clouds are considered a weak link in security. As 5G networks roll out, the use of IoT devices will accelerate dramatically. This will amplify the vulnerability of networks and increase attack vectors for cybercriminals. Add to that the old problems on our networks such as unencrypted personal data, vulnerable web interfaces, insecure wireless communication, and more.

MFA going mainstream

In 2019, we heard a lot about accounts getting breached and stolen despite activating two-factor authentication. 2FA solutions, especially those that are implemented via one-time codes sent to email and mobile devices can easily be cracked using more sophisticated phishing attacks.

It is clear that 2FA is not enough to secure our online data. We need a more reliable solution.  Cybersecurity experts predict that we’ll see multi-factor authentication going mainstream in 2020. Authentication will be moving from two-factor to the more secure multi-factor authentication solutions such as three-factor or even four-factor authentication. How? Through biometric and location technologies on our mobile devices. Learn more how TraitWare is achieving this