The Biggest Cyber Security Challenges in 2023 – The White House unveiled a national strategy to combat cyber risks earlier this week. This involves switching from defense to offense as well as shifting business and government incentives away from short-term fixes and towards long-term investments.
The Biggest Cyber Security Challenges
Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) helps prevent hacks by requiring more than just a password to log in, making MFA an essential security trend that will defend against cyber attacks in 2023.
1. The Pandemic
The pandemic brought with it dramatic shifts to work patterns, as employees were advised to stay at home while businesses moved toward remote working. This created new vulnerabilities and made an employee an appealing target for cybercriminals – who continue to look for ways to bypass block lists and force businesses into paying ransom. The threat landscape continues to change.
Smart devices have opened a wide array of attacks surface since their widespread adoption, and this trend will only accelerate by 2023. Attackers can exploit vulnerable IoT devices to damage gadgets or gain access to private data – and with its rapid growth comes increased profit potential for hackers looking for lucrative data-monetization schemes.
Due to remote work’s growing popularity, companies have adopted BYOD policies. Unfortunately, these policies pose major security risks; attackers could exploit mobile applications used by employees, while employees who install personal apps onto workplace devices could give cybercriminals access to corporate files.
As well as protecting against attacks against IoT devices, another challenge will be defending against those targeting “Internet of Things” (IoT). IoT devices often lack sufficient configuration controls, opening more points of vulnerability for hackers to exploit and potentially lead to breaches, exploiting sensitive data breaches and physical infrastructure damage.
As more organisations integrate their supply chains, the risk of third-party breaches increases significantly. Such breaches can be used to steal data, take over accounts or gain entry to critical systems; attackers also frequently employ social engineering techniques in an attempt to induce employees into disclosing company secrets.
As organizations transition away from big data towards right data, they will need more effective mechanisms for sorting “good” from “bad”. This may require new approaches to security as well as increased cooperation among colleagues, suppliers, and partners.
2. Remote Work
With more businesses adopting remote working policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, hackers have taken advantage of security gaps to increase cyber attacks. When employees work from home and connect to their corporate network through VPN or RDP, hackers have seen this as an opportunity for theft of login credentials or malware infection on devices used by employees – cybercriminals could use social engineering tactics such as phishing or email impersonation to gain access to sensitive data such as passwords.
Home employees tend to be lax in their security practices when working remotely, which gives cybercriminals plenty of chances to crack passwords and gain unauthorized access. Home workers might use public Wi-Fi at coffee shops or an extension of their house without properly encrypting their connections – giving cybercriminals access to personal data they could later sell on the dark web or use to threaten businesses with ransomware extortion attempts.
Smart devices such as TVs and refrigerators make it easier for criminals to gain entry to a company’s systems, according to research conducted by cybersecurity software firm Rapid7; in their external penetration tests they discovered exploitable configuration errors on 8 out of 10 routers and IoT devices tested.
Small and midsized businesses will face one of their greatest challenges in 2023 in ensuring employees working from home have adequate cybersecurity solutions in place, including Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), which allows remote users access only when necessary based on their roles within the corporate network.
3. Social Engineering
Social engineering attacks refer to cyberattacks that exploit human vulnerability rather than technical weaknesses and involve manipulating victims into taking actions that compromise a company’s data. They can be extremely risky as it’s far easier to fool an individual than break into security systems; an attacker could impersonate delivery drivers or custodian workers to gain entry, or tricking them into installing malware onto the company network remotely.
Social engineering attacks are also a serious threat, with 85% of all data breaches starting with social engineering techniques according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations report.
Cyber criminals use techniques such as phishing, impersonation and baiting to obtain login credentials or financial data – which they then use to plant malware on company computers of victims. They typically target companies with large remote workforces or that utilize third-party cloud service providers such as Colonial Pipeline in April 2021 by gaining a single username and password from an employee that worked remotely.
Ransomware attacks have become an increasing risk to businesses worldwide. Hackers encrypt data, then demand payment in return for access. Threats include the release or disruption of operations if payment isn’t made. According to a 2021 survey, 66% of respondents said revenue had been lost as a result of ransomware attacks while 30% experienced forced termination of employees or contracts after an attack.
Businesses should implement more stringent training for remote workers on how to protect themselves against cyberattacks, and provide updated and secure cybersecurity protection solutions for employees. They should also ensure their security measures are compatible with any third-party services used.
4. 5G
Cyberattacks remain an enormous risk for businesses and show no sign of abating. Ransomware attacks encrypting and demanding payments from victims has forced organizations to implement multifactor authentication (MFA), robust firewall protection and an antimalware solution in order to keep their data safe.
With more devices being connected to the internet, security risks are growing rapidly and thus, cybersecurity has evolved quickly to meet this growing threat. 5G technology could pose significant threats to businesses as it provides greater connectivity and data speeds; but also brings with it vulnerabilities which attackers could exploit.
One of the primary challenges associated with 5G is its new network architecture called “network slicing,” which divides cellular networks into separate slices to optimize performance for different clients and applications. This increases vulnerability to threats like denial-of-service attacks, jamming attacks, identity theft attacks and man-in-the-middle eavesdropping attacks as well as increasing its attack surface area and attack surface area.
Backdoors in 5G components pose another threat, potentially allowing manufacturers to spy on consumers and business users. USA Today reported that such backdoors may enable hackers or even manufacturers to track user activities by watching or listening in.
At present, businesses face an imminent shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals that makes up approximately 3.5 million unfilled positions; it is expected to persist into 2023 and it is essential that businesses invest in training their staff on how to detect and respond to cyberattacks.
5. Cloud
With hackers making an attempt on one business every 39 seconds, cybersecurity remains a pressing concern for organisations. Cyberattacks continue to evolve and become more sophisticated – whether ransomware encrypting data and demanding payment before accessing it again, or scam emails duping employees into providing sensitive data – so businesses need to remain prepared at all times for these attacks.
IoT (Internet of Things) is an ever-evolving trend that connects physical devices to the digital realm – from wearable tech, fridges and thermostats, home assistants and healthcare equipment to wearable tech, refrigerators and thermostats. Although IoT provides many benefits for consumers and organizations alike, its use also opens a window of vulnerability for attackers seeking quick and untraced entry to systems.
Due to IoT systems’ accessibility, they pose an increased threat of data breaches, malware infections and more. For this reason, businesses in 2023 should make sure to understand and monitor the security of their IoT devices to guard against these potential dangers.
Cyberattacks represent one of the greatest threats facing companies today. These attacks include spyware that secretly records computer users, phishing attacks that steal sensitive information and SQL injection attacks that target vulnerable servers. Cyberattacks may be motivated by criminal activity or by hackers trying to become more famous through hacktivism and other social-political activism. Attackers are on the rise and 5G networks will only increase their attack surface area further. Businesses must continually enhance their cyber protection solutions and have adequate backup plans in place, as well as invest in employee education to teach employees how to avoid common cyberattacks, such as downloading suspicious email attachments, plugging in unfamiliar USB drives, clicking unknown links or downloading files.
