Just as the world was nearing 2023, Uber announced a major cyber security breach to its system that shook its business standing. It was December 2022, and despite the most cutting-edge security solutions in place, Uber had its 70,000+ employees’ data compromised by a hacker under the pseudonym “UberLeaks.” As businesses continue to evolve in the disruptive digital age, cybercriminals are getting even more sophisticated with their methods to find flaws in your cyber security. For Uber, this was not the first time they endured an attack. In mid-September 2022, they underwent an unrelated security breach when several of the company’s databases were attacked and compromised.

Cyber security is not a new concept for businesses, albeit it is an ever-evolving notion. While it may mean different for different-sized organisations, it carries the same risk – the risk of attacking a company’s financials, denting its reputation, and compromising employees’ data. With more people working remotely or in decentralised workspaces than ever before, cyber security, its awareness, and mitigating the malicious elements are more vital than ever.

Moreover, as technology evolves and businesses become more dependent on digital solutions, the threat of cybercriminals finding new directions for ill-gotten gains becomes even more pertinent. Cybercriminals constantly develop new tactics to breach security systems and steal valuable information. Furthermore, we cannot deny the fact that there has been a major shift in the way information is received, perceived, and stored. Thus, the risk of sensitive data being compromised at the hands of cybercriminals is so high that organisations need not only methodologies to impede such risks but also knowledge of what is trending in the cyber security theft landscape.

To reason with this, we have curated the top cyber security trends to watch out for in 2023 so you don’t fall prey to any of them.

➢ Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware attacks have been on the rise in recent years and are likely to continue to be a significant threat in 2023. It encompasses a malware attack that encrypts the victim’s files and demands payment in exchange for the decryption key. This category of cyberattacks is highly profitable for cybercriminals, who are constantly on the trail of finding vulnerable gaps in the system or network. Cybercriminals use a variety of tactics to deliver ransomware, including phishing emails, malicious software downloads, and even compromised credentials. These attacks have evolved over the years, making them sneakier and more challenging to spot.

➢ Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering attacks are another major threat to watch out for in 2023. Social engineering uses psychological manipulation to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information. Cybercriminals use social engineering tactics such as phishing emails, pretexting, and baiting to obtain access to confidential information.

➢ Internet of Things (IoT) Attacks

As more devices connect to the internet, the threat of IoT attacks is increasing. IoT devices, such as smart home appliances and medical devices, often have weak security measures, making them vulnerable to cyberattacks. This programmed technology is not smart enough at this stage to identify that it has been attacked. This absence of intelligent understanding makes AI even more vulnerable for people and organisations with access to it. Hackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to access sensitive data, launch a denial-of-service attack, or cause terrifying phishing, malware or even deep fakes.

➢ Supply Chain Attacks

Supply chain attacks occur when cybercriminals target a third-party vendor or supplier that provides goods or services to an organisation. Hackers can access an organisation’s networks and data by compromising the supply chain. Software supply chain attacks introduce malicious code into an application to infect all users, whereas hardware supply chain attacks compromise physical components for the same reason. Traditionally, supply chain attacks have referred to attacks on trusted connections in which an untrustworthy chain supplier is attacked to obtain access to larger trading partners. The greatest concern today, though, is a software supply chain attack. Because modern software is not built from scratch, it contains many off-the-shelf components, such as third-party APIs, open-source code, and proprietary code from software manufacturers. Software supply chains are particularly vulnerable. The average software project today has 203 dependencies. If a popular app contains a corrupted dependency, any business that downloads from the vendor is also infected, dramatically increasing the number of victims. Furthermore, because software is reused, a vulnerability in one application can persist beyond the lifecycle of the original product. Software that lacks a broad user community is especially vulnerable because a large community is more likely than a project with few followers to expose a vulnerability sooner.

➢ Cloud Security Breaches

As more businesses move their operations to the cloud, the threat of cloud security breaches is increasing. Cloud service providers have been targeted in the past, and if a breach occurs, it can expose sensitive data belonging to multiple organisations.

➢ Artificial Intelligence (AI) Attacks

As AI technology becomes more advanced, cybercriminals are beginning to use it to launch more sophisticated attacks. AI can be used to automate the process of identifying vulnerabilities in a target’s security system and launching an attack. AI, like every other technology, has two sides. AI models excel at digesting loads of data and generating the best estimate. Hackers have used AI to compromise authentication and identity validation, including speech and visualisation hacking. Adversarial data poisoning, for example, is a powerful threat against machine learning that compromises model integrity by injecting poisoned data into the training dataset. AI threats substantially broaden the set of entities capable of carrying out cyberattacks. These attacks can also be used to weaponise data in novel ways, necessitating changes in how data is acquired, stored and used. Thus, AI-powered attacks are expected to become more prevalent in 2023.

➢ 5G

5G employs software-defined networks and virtualises its most critical components, including core networks. This will create daring new prospects for innovation and a plethora of new attack vectors for hackers to exploit. For example, 5G will power revolutionary IoT deployments such as self-driving cars and smart cities. Sadly, the Internet of Things has consistently demonstrated major security risks on several levels. Devices are frequently used as attack targets, leaving legitimate users with service failures, stolen data or a compromised network.

Winding Up!

With rapid technological advancement, cyber security will continue to witness a fierce war between hackers and security specialists. Constant technological advancements are further increasing the severity and susceptibility of cyber threats. On the other hand, tech-savvy cyber criminals are becoming more adept in their attempts to access inadequately secured networks and sensitive data. Moreover, the paradigm shift in work culture will continue to increase the chances of malicious attempts to break into systems and networks. With the increasing usage of digital technologies and systems, cyber security will be at the top of the agenda for both enterprises and individuals in 2023.

However, by implementing strong security measures and staying vigilant, individuals and organisations can identify, mitigate and prevent the risk of a cyberattack to a great extent.