Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Four Ways Cybercrime Will Evolve in 2023
By Tyler Moffitt, Senior Security
Analyst, OpenText Security Solutions
A new year
brings new opportunities, and cybercriminals are ready to take advantage. This
past year saw major developments in cybercriminal activity as threat actors
worked to benefit from geopolitical tensions and economic woes amidst worsening
inflation and recession fears. As we head into 2023, economic uncertainty will
continue to weigh heavily on businesses, especially small- and mid-size
businesses (SMBs) faced with shrinking security teams and budgets. Add macro-economic pressures
to the mix and effective and affordable cybersecurity will feel next to
impossible for many SMBs.
Threat actors will continue to evolve their tactics as
they look to exploit new attack vectors. In 2022 phishing remained the dominant
threat facing people and businesses, with an almost 1100% increase in phishing
in just the first four months of year. I anticipate another active phishing
year. The risk of ransomware will continue to grow due to the Ransomware as a
Service (RaaS) business model taking hold. Furthermore, in today's hybrid work
environment, the lines between work and home will also continue to blur with
many employees using their personal devices for work. This will
create additional security loopholes as personal devices often lack robust
security software and group policies.
With so many factors at play, below are just four ways we
can expect threat actors to evolve their tactics in 2023.
1. Cyber attackers will use new
and old techniques to bring down SMBs who are struggling to do more with less.
Cybercriminals will increase ransomware
attacks on SMBs in the wake of heightened geopolitical tensions, such as the
War in Ukraine, and rising inflation in the U.S. Our recent SMB
survey found that 52 percent of respondents felt more at risk of a
ransomware attack due to heightened geopolitical tensions, and 57 percent were
also concerned about their security budgets shrinking due to inflation. This
will force already strapped SMBs to do more with less. Creating a cyber
resilient posture will be more important than ever.
2. Search engines will not only
blur the lines between paid vs. organic search results, but also from what's
real and fake, increasing phishing attacks.
Search engines like Google and Bing
try to make it as easy as possible for business professionals and consumers to
find the information they request, but it will become increasingly difficult to
distinguish between safe and malicious search results. As search engines work
to provide a more streamlined experience, they also put people at greater risk
of being phished. On the consumer front, scammers will purchase top ranking
search result ads and use them to drive people to malicious and fraudulent
websites to steal their personal and financial information.
3. As every home becomes a smart
home and more personal data lives on the cloud, the attack surface will expand
no matter how "secure" people feel.
There's a "Black Swan event" coming as consumers and
businesses alike adopt new technologies to make their lives smarter and more
convenient, in turn, sharing and storing more of their data in the cloud. Being
connected to the internet 24/7 will make everyone who uses smart devices more
vulnerable in the coming years. I believe a critical event this year, or merely
increasing attacks, will signal a wake-up call to consumers and businesses to
think more critically about how smart technology use hinders their security and
privacy.
4. Cybercriminals will take
advantage of consumers' vulnerable footing to increase attacks as the economy
suffers and inflation rises.
No one is more opportunistic than
cybercriminals. They are experts in understanding consumers' greatest concerns
and how to tap into these fears with phishing tactics to steal their money or
personal information. Covid-19 was a prime example of leveraging fear into ROI
and the more recent Ukraine war only adds fuel to the fire. I anticipate this attack
approach will continue to rise as the U.S. experiences growing inflation,
resulting stimulation checks, job losses and a potential recession for more
fear tactics.
While these predictions may seem grim, the bright side is
that there are many steps businesses and individuals can take to protect
themselves against security threats and achieve cyber resilience. Understanding
cybercriminal behavior through education and implementing a multi-layered
approach to protecting data and information from evolving attack surfaces and
threat vectors are recommended course of
actions. Cyber resilience is a posture and mindset of a prepared individual in
today's landscape. It's not a question of if you'll be attacked, but when. As
long as you are worried about being attacked and on the lookout, you have less
to worry about.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tyler Moffitt, Sr. Security Analyst at OpenText Security
Solutions
Tyler Moffitt is a Sr. Security Analyst at OpenText Security
Solutions who stays deeply immersed within the world of malware and
antimalware. He is focused on improving the customer experience through his
work directly with malware samples, creating antimalware intelligence, writing
blogs, and testing in-house tools.