Cybersecurity Trends in 2021
by Craig Boulet
As we turn the corner into 2021, we are looking at perhaps the most uncertainty we have faced in a long time, maybe ever, starting a new year. From health concerns over a pandemic to political chaos, 2020 was a unique year to say the least, and there is no guarantee that these issues will resolve with the changing of the calendar. One additional area of concern is cybersecurity as there has been an uptick in high profile attacks and espionage recently.
There is a cliché in the security industry: “There are two types of companies out there; those who know they’ve been hacked and those who have yet to find out that they have been.” Unfortunately, this saying is becoming more accurate as we move forward into the digital age.
Some of the trends we expect to see in the coming year are:
A rise in ransom-ware gangs and cyber-crime syndicates with a resulting increase of targeted ransomware attacks
AI-based attacks which will improve the speed and efficiency of bad actors
Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of IoT technology for remote management of assets (personal, office, industrial and maritime, to name a few), so as we see an increase in the number of IoT devices, most of which are not designed with security in mind, we will see more attacks on such devices
An increase in state sponsored hacking and espionage in healthcare and big pharma as well as government contractors
Additionally, individuals and crime syndicates often target healthcare providers because medical records sell very well on the Dark Web, are difficult to track and can sell for up to $1,000 each
If this is to happen, how do we respond? According to Forbes.com, to address these issues, we should expect to see increased spending in cybersecurity:
55% of enterprise executives plan to increase their cybersecurity budgets in 2021 and 51% are adding full-time cyber staff in 2021; the fastest anticipated growth is in four key industries, including healthcare systems and services, banking & financial, technology & media telecom and public and social sectors
PwC found that most executives are planning to ramp up their cybersecurity spending in 2021 despite most of them, 64%, expecting business revenues to decline proving that cybersecurity is more business-critical than ever before
Next-generation Identity and Access Management, messaging security and network security are the three hot spots of enterprise cybersecurity spending in 2021 according to McKinsey
An increase in the deployment of IoT security due to government mandates
Digital twins will improve defense by identifying the risks and vulnerabilities sooner, allowing quicker remediation
All indicators point to year over year increases in expenditure for cyber protection. IDC expects worldwide security spending to reach $174.7 billion in 2024. For most companies, this will require significant investment in technology and processes just to keep up. How well are you prepared for these upcoming cyber threats and challenges?
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