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

Fortifying Critical Infrastructure Against Evolving Threats – A 2024 Focus

By Roman Arutyunov, Co-Founder & SVP Product at Xage Security

If cybercrime were treated as a nation, it would rank as the world's third-largest economy in 2023. With it projected to cause $8 trillion in global damages by the end of the year, it would exceed the wealth of entire countries, trailing only behind the U.S. and China. It's clear there's a pressing need for robust cybersecurity measures on a global scale, and swift action is needed now. Here is what I predict will happen in 2024 as cybercrime continues to reach epidemic proportions.

Addressing Risks Posed by Attacks like Ransomware-as-a-Service

As we approach the new year, I predict that the escalation of geopolitical tensions will pose a serious threat to critical infrastructure. While nation-state threats loom, opportunistic ransomware groups taking advantage of these situations also pose significant risks. Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) continues to rise, following the same repeated pattern of credential theft, privilege escalation, and lateral movement.

RaaS is a business model created by more sophisticated ransomware groups. Leveraging their technical proficiency, these groups develop portable ransomware packages, also known as kits, which they subsequently sell to individuals or entities seeking to initiate their own ransomware attacks. RaaS has become so widespread that the U.S. government officially re-classified ransomware as a national security threat in 2023.

To counter these threats in 2024, emphasis should be placed on proactive solutions, eliminating compromised credentials, securing access, and controlling any east-west access between machines, devices, or apps. As such, investments should prioritize a strong foundation in protection rather than detection and response strategies. Additionally, we can expect to see more CISA-driven regulation and enforcement for key sectors beyond the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), such as critical manufacturing, particularly given the recent Clorox attack having a lasting impact on operations.

A promising sign is that we are beginning to see a shift in cybersecurity investment strategies that better reflect the current threat landscape. Companies are recognizing that threat hunting and responding to endless detections and false positives uses too much of their precious security resources, and they're growing tired of chasing needles in a haystack. They are now turning their attention to reducing the attack surface by proactively protecting their assets. By prioritizing tangible protection solutions that enhance productivity while complying with expanding regulations, organizations can ensure they can address emerging threats from around the globe in 2024 and beyond.

The Zero Trust Technology Revolution

As society grapples with emerging regulations and the vast challenges posed by bad actors, it's clear that solutions powered by zero trust will be crucial in 2024. Those who don't embrace the zero trust principle model and corresponding solutions risk leaving systems and sensitive information vulnerable to exploitation. It would not only open the door to financial, reputational, and legal problems for nations and corporations, but could cause widespread environmental and health impacts that extend beyond the organizations, affecting customers - and citizens like you and me.

Take Citrix Bleed as an example. CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently published an advisory around this critical software vulnerability due to its successful efforts in retrieving sensitive information and hijacking user sessions. With at least four threat groups leveraging Citrix Bleed and researchers estimating around 20,000 instances of Citrix devices having session tokens stolen, additional security measures need to be implemented urgently.

Zero trust is particularly successful in combating these types of threat actors because it operates on the premise that trust cannot be automatically granted to anyone, whether they are inside or outside the organization. I predict this zero trust approach will continue to pick up steam in 2024 - as it diverges from the traditional "trust but verify" model, necessitating continuous authentication and verification for all users and devices attempting to access resources. By doing so, layers of defense are created that have the ability to protect our world's most critical infrastructure and our digital-first society as a whole - all while complying with regulations in 2024.

Securing Our Nation Now to Protect Our Digital Future

In the face of evolving nation-state and RaaS-fueled cyber threats, embracing a proactive and comprehensive cybersecurity approach anchored in zero trust is imperative for the year ahead. This will not only safeguard the fabric of our society, but align seamlessly with the surging wave of cyber regulations. The need for swift and resolute action is clear, and the path to a secure digital future begins now, in 2024.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roman Arutyunov is the Co-Founder & SVP Product at Xage Security. Prior to Xage, Roman held Vice President of Product and Engineering roles at ABB, Tropos Networks, and Mimosa Networks solving networking, security, and data analytics challenges for industrial and commercial enterprises enabling millions of IoT devices in production today. Earlier in his career, Roman developed the first generation of Content Distribution Networks (CDN) and secure proxy servers at Blue Coat Systems (Symantec).

Roman holds a Bachelor's in Applied Mathematics with an emphasis in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Columbia University.