Top 3 Cybersecurity Trends for 2022

With the financial year closing just a month away, it is that time of year again for the organizations to initiate the evaluation of their security posture to allocate budget and resources for the coming year. It allows them to look for effective ways to remain resilient to the ever-evolving cyber threats. Planning for resilience requires assumptions about the future. For 2022, we have identified the following three trends from across the cybersecurity landscape.

1. Insider Risk

Through 2022, malicious insider activity, especially IP theft, will become the top risk for businesses.

With the #greatresignation ongoing, there will be a great reshuffle of where employees are working. For organizations, the attack surface will continue to increase as Covid drives workforce redistribution with employees moving to benefit from WFH and hybrid work. The recent discovery of new variants may further signal a new wave of Covid and tightening lockdowns.

2. Ransomware

25% of ransomware attacks in 2022 will be deployed by insiders, compared to less than 2% in 2021.

Ransomware continues to be a significant attack for several reasons. Mandatory vaccination programs, resentment from employees not being able to work from home anymore, and increasing living costs in combination with financial incentives from criminals will lead to an uptick in insiders being tempted to collaborate with criminal operators.

Ransomware remains the easiest threat for less technical insiders to monetize as all that is often required are their credentials. Ransomware operators will offer large incentives to gain access, driven by decreasing success compromising larger enterprises with other means due to increasing investment in security, and the growing adoption of behavioral detection technologies.

On the other hand, the increase in scrutiny and action by lawmakers make it more difficult for cybercriminals to conduct ransomware attacks.

3. Nation-states

2022 will see the first true concentrated nation-state versus nation-state cyber battle, taking place over a series of days, with multiple targets including telecommunications, transport, media, and utilities.

We have seen evidence in 2021 of nation-states posturing and taking offensive positions, but the real risk lies in two non-superpower nation-states squaring up. Many countries have, or are in the process of building out offensive “hack back” cyber operations, and will be keen to demonstrate the effectiveness of the investment.

The deterrents to the rise of nation-state attacks and escalations depend on the quick international response pressuring the combatants to pull back and resolve their issues through diplomatic means.

About the author:
Harshil Doshi, Director Sales (India and SAARC), Securonix
Harshil is seasoned enterprise security professional with over 15 years of experience in enterprise sales, evangelism, and pre-sales in the cybersecurity industry. Harshil strongly believes that enterprise security will be the most relevant IT function in years to come and that innovation is the key to success. Given his vast experience, he pretty well understands end customers’ needs and the requirements of distributors and partners. Harshil is an enterprise security expert with the right business acumen.