Now I\u2019m not psychic, but this seems pretty straightforward to me. But let\u2019s have a little fun with it anyhow. In this article, we\u2019ll explore nine of the most obvious cybersecurity trends and predictions for 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s hash it out.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data breaches make headlines on a daily basis. Let\u2019s check out the recent Google News headlines regarding data breaches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ugh. Not pretty \u2014 and they\u2019re certainly not the types of headlines you want your organization to make. Of course, there\u2019s no single cause we can point to or blame for all of these security incidents. Data breaches can occur for many reasons, including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there is something that many data breaches have in common: avoidable issues that remained unaddressed within organizations until after crap hit the fan. Whether it\u2019s a misconfigured database or someone falling for a phishing scam \u2014 there are steps organizations could have taken to mitigate these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t matter how big or small your company is \u2014 everyone is at risk of being the target of a data breach. It\u2019s not so much a matter of if<\/em> an attack will occur but when<\/em>, and how effectively you prepare yourself so you\u2019re ready for the inevitable. Am I being pessimistic? No, just realistic. The difference in your organization\u2019s outcome depends on how well you prepare for preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber threats and attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ransomware is malicious software that\u2019s used to encrypt data and devices to keep a target\u2019s employees from accessing critical systems. Attacks involving ransomware also increasingly involve the theft of sensitive data, too. Last year, Sonicwall reported<\/a> that ransomware increased from 78.3 million attacks in Q3 2020 to 190.4 million attacks in Q3 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s take a quick peek at their data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to their report, as of the end of Q3 2021, the year was \u201cthe most costly and dangerous year on record\u201d as far as ransomware attacks were concerned. (Shocking, I know…) If 2022 is anything like last year, and cybercriminals continue to profit on the backs of companies lacking strong cyber defenses, then it\u2019s all but guaranteed this upward trend in ransomware will continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To help public and private sector organizations combat ransomware, several branches of the U.S. government came together to create the website StopRansomware.gov<\/a>. For other related ransomware-related data and examples, be sure to check out our articles on recent ransomware attacks<\/a> and ransomware statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this quasi post-COVID 19 era, many workers aren\u2019t wanting to give up working in their pajamas or sweatpants<\/a>. (There\u2019s something to be said for being comfortable while working!) As such, many companies are embracing the move to remote working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, allowing employees to work remotely isn\u2019t as easy as flipping a switch from a security perspective. Organizations need to invest the time and labor into preparing for at least a partially remote workforce. This includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although having expired or unknown certificates within your environment may not sound like a big issue, these unknown elements can lead to a litany of issues. But what happens when a digital certificate expires<\/a>? Important websites and applications that people rely on go down. A few big-name examples of certificate outages in the past few years include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that DigiCert reports the average organization has 50,000 certificates<\/a>, it\u2019s no surprise that staying on top of tracking all of these certificates can be challenging. But what makes matters worse is that many organizations aren\u2019t managing their certificates effectively. The 2021 State of Machine Identity Management report<\/a> from Keyfactor and the Ponemon Institute shows that two in five (40%) organizations rely on manual spreadsheets for tracking their digital certificates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another issue that can further increase certificate management-related challenges is that PKI digital certificates now have shortened lifespans. The CA\/Browser (CA\/B) Forum limited certificate lifespans to no more than 398 days<\/a> as of September 2020. Understandably, this adds an extra layer of complexity to the situation because certificates now expire in half the time as they did in 2018!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid this issue, organizations should consider investing in certificate management solutions. A good certificate management provides visibility of your network so you know where every digital certificate and its corresponding cryptographic keys are located, how they\u2019re being used, when they expire, and who is responsible for managing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve said this before and we\u2019ll say it again: no matter how nicely they ask for it, your employees don\u2019t need access to everything. Practicing strong user identity and access management is integral to the security of your data and critical systems. This is why access to databases, servers, drives, customer and employee data, and other sensitive information should be limited to only those whose jobs require it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Handing out access to everyone like candy expands your attack surface and makes it easier for attackers to breach your network. Why? Because the more people who have access to something, the more at risk it becomes. It\u2019s like giving out the keys to your home: anyone with access can walk in. All it takes it one person not keeping their key secure (e.g., having their login credentials stolen in a phishing attack) to put your safety and belongings at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another access control<\/a> issue is not maintaining a current list of active users. If an employee leaves, their accounts and credentials should be deactivated immediately. This way, the former employee (nor anyone else who manages to get access to those credentials) can use that information to access your organization\u2019s sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phishing<\/a> is one of the most common attack methods threat actors rely on for targeting businesses and individuals. It\u2019s an attack tactic that largely relies on social engineering and aims to get someone to click on a link or open a malicious attachment. (The goal is often to get users to provide their login credentials or other sensitive data.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are multiple types of phishing that are categorized in various ways depending on the communication methods used and who is either being targeted or impersonated. But why are these attack methods so successful? Perhaps it\u2019s because of the \u201cit won\u2019t happen to me\u201d mindset some organizations have, or maybe it boils down to their employees\u2019 ignorance about the types of phishing tactics bad guys use. Take your pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of the cause, phishing attacks<\/a> continue to be successful across virtually all industry sectors and organization sizes. Bad guys know that they can continue using these tried-and-true tactics because they work<\/em>. We don\u2019t expect to see this pattern change anytime soon \u2014 especially not within the next year. So, the best steps you can take to combat phishing-related threats include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s no secret that skilled cybersecurity professionals are in high demand \u2014 as they should be. In an increasingly digital world, you\u2019ll find these jobs in virtually all organizations and industries globally. Cyberseek\u2019s supply and demand heat map<\/a> shows that there are nearly 600,000 cybersecurity jobs open in the U.S. alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2021 survey of cybersecurity professionals<\/a> by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) shows that the cybersecurity skills shortage is still in full effect. While this may seem like a great thing for job seekers on the surface (because it means they have more options), it\u2019s not all so rosy for them \u2014 and certainly not for their prospective employers \u2014 when you take off those tinted glasses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ISSA\/ESG\u2019s survey data shows that 95% of the survey\u2019s respondents indicate that they haven\u2019t seen improvement in the skills gap. Furthermore, they think the skills gap has contributed to issues ranging from increased workloads and worker burnout to jobs remaining unfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For businesses, the internet of things (IoT) represents a connected world of technologies that exist to automate tasks and streamline processes. However, while there are many upsides to integrating IoT within your environments, there are also some serious drawbacks as well. IoT security<\/a> is challenging as many devices aren\u2019t known for being secure. For example, these devices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n An important example we saw in the last year regarding IoT devices\u2019 vulnerabilities was Name:Wreck<\/a>. This set of nine vulnerabilities that Forescout Research Labs discovered is thought to affect millions<\/em> of IoT, OT, and IT devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until IoT manufacturers take the necessary steps to make their devices more secure, we\u2019re still bound to see many vulnerabilities being exploited in 2022. But there is a sliver of light in all of this doom and gloom: there are steps you can take to make using IoT more secure. Check out our related article on how to secure IoT devices within your environment<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zero trust is a concept that entails continuously verifying the identities of parties not just during the initial login process but throughout their entire connected session. But just how popular is zero trust? Keyfactor\u2019s 2021 zero trust PKI research<\/a> shows that 21% of survey respondents\u2019 organizations have already adopted a zero trust strategy and 49% say they intend to do so within the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, considering that President Biden announced an executive order<\/a> that speaks specifically to adopting zero trust architectures and more secure cloud services for federal agencies, it only makes sense that we\u2019ll see zero trust adoption rates increase in that public sector as well. (Biden discussed this executive order and other cybersecurity-focused initiatives in a meeting with 30 industry leaders at the White House<\/a> in August 2021.) And considering that public key infrastructure (PKI) is a critical element of zero trust and internet security as a whole, we\u2019re sure to see an increase in the use of PKI as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re not trying to reinvent the wheel here with this article. This goal here is to drive home the point that overlooking the basics often serves as the impetus for many cyber attacks and data breaches. To break this cycle and keep your business, data, and customers secure in 2022, cover your main bases by doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use PKI certificates and technologies to increase identity and security within your organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While cybercrime and cybersecurity are no laughing matters, many cybersecurity articles tend to state the obvious in their predictions. With this in mind, we thought it would be fun to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":15315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[13107,16],"tags":[13152],"class_list":["post-15309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-hashed-out","category-hashing-out-cyber-security","tag-cybersecurity-predictions","post-with-tags"],"views":11725,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cyber-security-predictions-feature.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prediction #1: A Major Brand Will be Breached Due to an Easily Avoidable Oversight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/data-breach-search-results-google-news.png\")
Prediction #2: Ransomware Will Continue Its Upward Trajectory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ransomware-attacks-statistics-sonicwall-1024x619.png\")
Prediction #3: Remote Work Isn\u2019t Going Away \u2014 Neither Are Related IT Security Risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prediction #4: Shadow Digital Certificates Will Lead to Large Site Outages & Other Issues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prediction #5: Companies Will Mismanage Employees\u2019 Access to Data & Systems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prediction #6: Users Will Continue to Fall For Phishing & Social Engineering Tactics <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/phishing-tactics-scams.jpg\")
Prediction #7: The IT Security Industry Will Have More Open Jobs Than Skilled Talent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prediction #8: Insecure IoT Devices Will Leave Networks Exposed to Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Prediction #9: Businesses Will Increase Their Adoption of Zero Trust Technologies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n