Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2024.  Read them in this 16th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

The 2024 Cyber Threat Outlook

By Anant Adya, EVP - Infosys Cobalt

Innovative new technologies, coupled with deeper digital connections throughout the world, can deliver far-reaching benefits. These benefits include stimulating economic growth to expanding access to information.

But there are also challenges. As technologies and connections spread, institutions (as well as the individuals who work in them) are more vulnerable to lethal and indiscriminate cyber attacks - particularly as tools of deception become more sophisticated.

Companies need to escalate their cyber defenses by embedding cybersecurity in their technology framework, while also preparing for worst-case scenarios in which hackers succeed in penetrating internal systems.

That's easier said than done, of course. And it speaks to the complexity of the CISO's job - complexity that has grown as it has become more common for employees to work remotely and access company networks through different devices.

Cyber threats and cyber crime have been on the rise in recent years, and there's every reason to believe that these trends will continue in 2024. While it would be impossible to feature the entire threat landscape, there are a few areas that stand out.

Generative AI has achieved extraordinarily rapid uptake - within a few months of ChatGPT launching in November 2022, it had 100 million users (it took Facebook more than four years to reach this number of users). While ChatGPT can be used in mesmerizing ways, it's also likely to become an even greater cyber threat in the year ahead. That's because it can be exploited to create phishing emails that will trick even the most sophisticated individuals. A related threat is the creation of videos that look and sound real but are entirely fake.

Another cyber threat likely to loom large in 2024 relates to national and regional elections being held for head of state and other positions in the United States and elsewhere. There's a strong likelihood of cyber-driven attempts at manipulation and interference.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security predicted recently, "nation-state threat actors likely will seek to use novel technologies and cyber tools to enhance their capabilities and malign influence campaigns, ultimately to undermine our confidence in a free and fair election. Cyber actors likely will seek to exploit election-related networks and data, including state, local, and political parties' networks and election officials' personal devices and email accounts." 

Ransomware attacks are one of the well established cyber threats likely to grow in 2024. They have become more common in recent years and the total value of the ransoms being collected by predators throughout the world was nearly $450 million in just the first half of 2023. The predators behind these tactics are realizing bigger awards and there's every reason to believe they will continue their cyber attacks.  

Cars could be targeted more often in the year ahead, given that they increasingly rely on connectivity technology such as Bluetooth and WiFi. "Cybersecurity is set to be a defining factor for the auto industry, as manufacturers develop new infotainment and tech features at a rapid pace," according to a recent article in Autoweek.

While the ultimate threat is for cyber predators to override an autonomous vehicle's internal systems and take control of the driving, it's also possible that they could eavesdrop on conversations or tap into navigation systems - raising the specter of everything from stalking to tracking a car for the purpose of stealing it.   

The spread of 5G networks also raises cybersecurity concerns. While 5G enables greater connectivity, with the Internet of Things in particular, this also raises the stakes cyber thieves, as their attacks can spread further - and faster. And because 5G is also an all-software network, points out UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, "developers will have no choice but to utilize the network and create apps on 5G. The implications of a potential network hack are huge, as software-based digital routing and network management create all-new vulnerabilities to secure."

These are just some of the challenges that will face CISOs in 2024 and beyond. There will be no easy solutions, as the thieves will always be changing their tactics to try to stay one step ahead of the authorities - and the technologies that block them. Continued vigilance will remain fundamental.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anant Adya is EVP – Infosys Cobalt. He and his team are responsible for designing solutions to help customers in their Digital and Cloud journey. They use a combination of AI-led solution sets combined with capabilities from partner and startup ecosystem to design best solutions for customers. Cloud and Infrastructure Service line include infrastructure operations, security, data center and network transformation, cloud (public, private and hybrid), workload migration and service experience.