Cyber Security landscape 2020

The main tactics cyber-criminals are using to attack organizations worldwide across all industries, and gives cyber security professionals and C-Level executives the information they need to protect their organizations from today’s fifth-generation cyber-attacks and threats.Cybersecurity is a very serious issue for 2020.Since, every company that has a computer or any connected devices or software are at risk,that also includes individuals with a smart TV, virtual assistant or other Internet of Things (IoT) device could be at risk as well , being victimized by cyberstalkers or having personal data compromised. Interaction with Beyond Security, expert into cyber security by providing tools that test networks, software and web applications for security weaknesses. Beyond Security’s testing solutions accurately assess and manage security weaknesses in networks, applications, industrial systems and networked software.

1. Mobile Devices as a Major Cybersecurity Risk.

The number of mobile devices used by peoples continues to rise, as does the amount of business and personal data stored on these devices. While the direct impact of mobile malware is low, we can expect an increase in the number of data breaches related to mobile device use and misuse in 2020.

Data leakage : The main challenge is how to implement an app vetting process that does not overwhelm the administrator and does not frustrate the users by leaking personal or business information.

Social engineering : A staggering 91% of cybercrime starts with email these incidents are "malware-less attacks," since they rely on tactics like impersonation to trick people into clicking dangerous links or providing sensitive info. The mobile users are at the greatest risk of falling for it because of the way many mobile email clients display only a sender's name - making it especially easy to spoof messages and trick a person into thinking an email is from someone they know or trust.

Wi-Fi interference : In an era where we're all constantly connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, that means our info often isn't as secure as we might assume. Nearly a quarter of devices have connected to open and potentially insecure Wi-Fi networks network spoofing has increased "dramatically" as of late, and yet less than half of people exposed while traveling and relying on public networks.

Out-of-date devices: Smartphones, tablets and smaller connected devices - commonly known as the Internet of Things (IoT) — pose a new risk to public security. They generally don't come with guarantees of timely and ongoing software updates. This is true particularly on the Android front, where the vast majority of manufacturers are embarrassingly ineffective at keeping their products up to date — both with operating system (OS) updates and with the smaller monthly security patches, which is a major security risk.

2. Risks Related to IoT Devices

The booming IoT (Internet of Things) space has brought a wealth of security blunders. Hard-coded credentials, insecure wireless communication, unencrypted personal data, unverified firmware updates, vulnerable web interfaces – the list goes on. Compromised IoT devices such as routers and NAS servers can provide access to communications and data, serve as points of entry for further attacks, or act as DDoS attack drones, while home automation products and wearables can be used to steal personally identifiable information and other data useful to criminals.

3. Automation and Integration in Cybersecurity

Security professionals, developers, and engineers are all under pressure to do more with less, so automation and integration are essential across the board. By incorporating security into agile processes such as CI/CD and DevOps, organizations can effectively manage risk while maintaining the required pace and quality of development.

The attack surface has grown from local code to pipeline code. Code inspection should incorporate start from app inception to production. The organizations need to start to build security into each phase of the development pipeline.

4. Cloud Security Issues

In 2020, business processes, infrastructure, and data are increasingly moved to the cloud, protecting information and critical infrastructure requires completely new approaches to enterprise security. Cloud-based threats will inevitably continue to grow, with organizations struggling to maintain control of critical data and ensure real-time threat intelligence.

Improperly secured or configured data buckets increase the risk of major data breaches for organizations large and small, and unauthorized cloud services can all too easily be added by end-users.

5. Data Breaches as the Top Cyberthreat

Data breaches continue to be reported as the biggest cybersecurity concern, and this is likely to continue for as long as personal data remains a valuable black market commodity. Ensuring data privacy, and especially the security of personal data, is likely to remain top priority in 2020. With web application flaws being a leading source of data breaches, ensuring web application security should be a top priority for all organizations during 2020.

Authentication will see and makeover move from two-factor (2FA) to multi-factor (MFA), including biometrics to protect against credential theft and to address regulatory compliance.

6. The C Skills Gap of Cybersecurity

The demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to exceed supply, even though security teams have to deal with more threats than ever. With as many as many organizations worldwide reporting a shortage of IT security staff, automated security tools such as beSECURE vulnerability management solutions are fast becoming essential to maintaining a good security posture. Modern products can allow even a small team to efficiently secure multiple websites and web applications, providing a technological solution to pressing recruitment problems.

7. Growing Awareness of the Importance of Cybersecurity

With digital transformation ongoing in many organizations, awareness of cybersecurity challenges continues to grow not just for major enterprises but also for small businesses in 2020. More and more businesses are coming to realize that having an effective cybersecurity strategy and cyber incident response plan is a necessity, not a luxury. Training will be commonplace for all staff to improve cyber-hygiene and maintain a solid security posture on all levels of the organization.

8. Impact of State-Sponsored Cyberattacks

Advanced persistent threats backed by nation-state actors will be a major part of the global security landscape 2020. Cybercriminals will get unofficial supported from the state and will execute DDoS attacks, cause high-profile data breaches, steal political and industrial secrets, spread misinformation, influence global opinion and events, and silence unfavourable voices more often.

As political tensions grow, we can expect these activities to escalate – and maintaining security in the face of advanced, globally distributed attackers with access to zero-day exploits will require big business and government organizations to deploy equally advanced solutions to detect and eliminate known and emerging vulnerabilities during this year 2020.

9. The Evergreen Phishing Threat

Phishing attacks remain an effective method of stealing credentials and identities, distributing malware, eliciting fraudulent payments, crypto-jacking (cryptocurrency mining) and so on, and the threat is not going away in 2020. The same goes for ransomware attacks, which continue to provide a solid source of income for international cybercrime. Effective protection requires not just proper cybersecurity training for all employees and business partners, but also in-depth security and vulnerability management to prevent attackers from obtaining confidential information used in phishing attempts during this year 2020.

Authored by Mr. Uday Bhanu Das
Co-Founder & CEO
Beyond Security Technologies Pvt Ltd