VAR Panchayat

Top Security Predictions for 2017

by VARINDIA 2017-04-08

In 2017, we will see an increase in the number of reported attacks

Innovation thrives when security is built into the fabric of your organization. Here are a few security predictions for 2017 that will guide you to stay ahead of threats and not just respond to them.

While more security features will be built into IoT devices in 2017, making IoT inherently more secured, a large number of existing and new devices will be used as the platform to launch targeted breaches and DDoS attacks. In 2016, we have seen several major DDoS attacks using IoT devices such as IP cameras and SOHO routers. IoT sensors, with their limited computing power are as secure as the firmware running on them, with their security very much dependent on device manufacturers. Successful attacks on IoT sensors are difficult to detect because of the limited access to a device’s system state, and in 2017 we will see more attackers focusing on compromising exactly those edge devices.

In 2017, we will see an increase in the number of reported attacks on banking services and banking system breaches. Following several reports of major successful attacks on SWIFT electronic transaction systems in 2016, we expect to hear a lot more about similar breaches as banks discover more attacks and realize that sharing details about them is the responsible thing to do.

More countries will accuse each other of politically motivated cyber attacks in 2017. Following several major politically motivated breaches in 2016, we will see an increase in such type of cyber attacks conducted by world’s cyber superpowers. Those attacks will likely result in disclosure of confidential documents and information with the goal of compromising target’s reputation. However, attributing attacks to nation states will also be increasingly difficult and we are likely to see much incorrect identification of attackers in order to collect political points and deny responsibility for breaches.

The DDoS attack firepower in 2016 has increased to frightening levels, allowing attackers to launch attacks using bandwidth in the range of Tbps, requiring specialized DDoS protection that can be provided only by a very few organizations in the world today. In 2017, this ever-increasing DDoS force will be used to attack internet infrastructure of whole countries in support of a physical military attack. With increased military tensions in several places in the world today, it is likely we will see more DDoS attacks in 2017 dedicated to taking whole countries offline.