eBook: Beyond the Basics: A C-Suite Checklist for Banking Security Strategy
To guide you toward developing and maintaining a secure banking security strategy, ASEE offers a detailed security checklist to assist you in the process.
A study states that the annual cost of cybercrime for companies worldwide will be $10.5 trillion by 2025. This is a 15% y-o-y growth if compared to the 2015 figures that were at $3 trillion. Also, the average number of days it took to identify and contain a data breach is 277 days – around nine months. If companies were to heighten security measures and manage to contain a data breach in under 200 days, this would account for $1.12 million of saved revenue. To predict and circumvent costs related to cybercrime, ASEE brings you the selection of the most notable cybersecurity trends for 2024.
The government is not always a fan of what you're doing. This is putting businesses whose philosophy is different from the one the government had in mind at risk. State-sponsored cyber attacks will be directed toward both competing governments as well as businesses that interfere with the state's end goals. Among data breaches and ransomware attacks, espionage through spyware will be another tool for accessing sensitive information.
State-held elections will also be a target for cybercriminals. The increasingly digital nature of how elections are conducted allows for data manipulation. Following, misinformation present on social media in the form of bogus campaigns using deepfake can cause the public to quickly switch sides.
Next on our 2024 top cybersecurity trends is the necessity to build cybersecurity awareness into both our personal and business culture. It is no longer enough to rely on IT support for security matters. The awareness needs to start with proper cybersecurity training, enabling the average user to recognize a potential cybersecurity threat and act accordingly.
We've said it many times before, but let's revise: 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused due to human error (WEF). Simple steps like taking the time to set up multi-factor authentication and keeping our password hygiene on point can go a long way in preventing a cybersecurity attack. Also, being aware of phishing attacks and social engineering scams can help us take better precautions and avoid falling victim to cybercriminals.
Among the top cybersecurity trends for 2024 are the inevitable data breaches. Data is the number one reason cyber attacks take place. Protecting the organization's data is a priority in terms of cybersecurity. Any present system or application flaws, such as bugs and unprotected endpoints, pose a vulnerability threat to your company's sensitive information. Building a rock-solid cybersecurity infrastructure is imperative in order to protect your data, including intellectual property, user information, and company data.
To highlight the importance of cybersecurity in preventing data breaches, let's take a look at some recent statistics:
Prevention is the best cure. Thinking proactively about your cybersecurity practices rather than putting a bandaid on a vulnerability is the way to go.
With the global switch from offices to our work-from-home setup, security experts and IT departments are facing a challenge in terms of securing devices remotely. Employees are no strangers to using their personal devices for business purposes and vice versa. This is putting pressure on those in charge of implementing cybersecurity best practices for a remote workplace.
Falling victim to a social engineering scam is a frequent occurrence among remote teams that didn't get the chance to meet in person. Impersonating a colleague or a C-level executive opens doors for hackers to manipulate unsuspecting employees into revealing their passwords and sensitive company information.
Also, the remote workplace does not guarantee a safe physical environment for the devices. Working from cafes and shared coworking places combined with leaving the device unattended might result in theft.
Automation can take a big load off cybersecurity experts when handling increasing amounts of data and simplifying security operations. As work demands grow, automation can provide essential assistance to security teams, facilitating quick and effective actions to prevent new threats. Introducing security practices within the agile development cycles helps develop software in a safer manner, especially for high-complexity applications.
Among the top cybersecurity trends for 2024 is the attention mobile device and mobile application security is getting. As customer-based businesses are turning to offer their service on mobile, hackers are exploiting the lack of cybersecurity practices implemented for both mobile devices and apps. This makes mobile devices the latest attack vector with an abundance of vulnerabilities waiting to be exploited – if not addressed by the device manufacturer or the mobile application owner. Attackers are targeting both individuals and organizations.
Besides the mentioned data breaches, a popular method among attackers involves mobile application manipulation through techniques such as reverse engineering and application hooking. This allows the hacker to gain insight into the app's source code and design a fake application which is later published with the goal of exploiting user credentials – this is just a single instance of a number of examples of how things can go south.
Insider threats include both intentionally and unintentionally caused issues. If you focus on the ones that are unintentional, by building cybersecurity awareness, you're making your organization bulletproof in terms of common phishing scams and social engineering campaigns.
The number of IoT-connected devices in 2022 was 13 billion, while the projected number for 2025 is 19 billion. This rapid growth - of quite unsecured devices in terms of cybersecurity - opens doors for hackers by constantly adding unprotected endpoints which pose a threat to network security. The aftermath of a hijacked IoT device can range from scenarios such as eavesdropping and espionage to serious health risks.
To give you a better idea of the consequences in question, home surveillance cameras, which are considered a part of the IoT environment, are used to plan organized robberies. Also, in healthcare, remotely controlled devices such as pacemakers and insulin shots can be hijacked and manipulated from the attacker's side.
The lack of regulation touching on the topic of IoT cybersecurity standards is still pretty slim, but there is a noticeable effort from the manufacturer side in security improvements. These same improvements are being put to the test in the following year.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence are quickly becoming a part of all market segments. These trends did not bypass either cybersecurity experts or the bad guys. Hackers have been leveraging automation for years, but today, they have access to tools much more powerful than the ones used to test stolen credentials on autopilot.
Since both bad guys and good guys are utilizing the same type of technology, things could quickly slip out of our control. Another threat to bear in mind. On a positive note, AI-based prevention and detection tools are proving to be a successful way of combatting known and emerging fraud patterns.
Falling under the social engineering category, phishing campaigns are proving to be the most successful method of cyber fraud. Moving away from individuals, hackers are now targeting businesses in hopes of gaining access to their networks and, finally, their data.
With much more on the line, the bad actors are paying more attention to detail and are carefully crafting their phishing strategy. These phishing emails have a more personalized and geo-targeted approach. This allows hackers to get specific and, thus, gain the victim's trust more easily.
To bypass such sophisticated phishing attempts, companies must devote their time to building cybersecurity awareness and training their employees to recognize telltale signs of a phishing scam.
To wrap up our cybersecurity trends in 2024 list, it is safe to assume that cybersecurity should be a part of the strategic planning rather than just a process flow triggered in case bad things happen. Thinking proactively about your cybersecurity efforts and emphasizing continuous education and awareness building within the company will go a long way.
To guide you toward developing and maintaining a secure banking security strategy, ASEE offers a detailed security checklist to assist you in the process.
In case you're curious, feel free to contact us - zero obligation. Our ASEE team will be happy to hear you out.
