Today’s Top Cyber IT Security Threats & How Your Company Can Prepare

While supply chain attacks dominated the cybersecurity headlines in 2021, it became increasingly apparent that nearly every industry needed to ramp up security efforts. Bad actors continued to exploit system vulnerability and human error in an increasingly targeted effort to seek financial gains.

The good news: As bad actors continue to adapt, the security effort to stop them does, too. Cybersecurity has become a priority for nearly every industry.

2021: A Recap of the Cybersecurity Landscape

Many reports demonstrate that the raw number of incidents of ransomware actually decreased in 2021 when compared to 2020. Unfortunately, this sounds like better news than it really is. Attackers are shifting their focus from a quantitative to a qualitative approach. With an advance in the technology of ransomware, methodology has also come a more focused emphasis on higher-value targets.

Certain industries tended to be targeted more than others. It will likely come as no surprise who topped the list: banking, government, manufacturing, healthcare, food and beverage, education, technology, financial, telecommunication, and retail.

That’s not where the good news/bad news ends. On the positive side, this year actually saw a decrease in the number of critical flaws.

The problem lies in the user. When it comes to security breaches, social engineering again led the charge. Despite the increase in fixes, the human element was continually responsible for vulnerability exploitation.

Data compromises also continued to climb. The most affected business sectors, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, were financial services, manufacturing and utilities, and education. Meanwhile, healthcare and professional services actually saw a dip in such issues.

2022: Familiar Threats, New Strategies

Ransomware will continue to be a threat; the cost of which is projected to increase to $265 billion by 2031. Financial gain continues to be the top motivation for cyber attacks by far. In fact, as much as 86% percent of attacks can be tracked to monetary gain as the primary reason, according to Verizon.

Following this trend, the supply chain will continue to be a prime target. This is especially true as the seemingly unending impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to leave this critical infrastructure vulnerable. With more people moving to remote work and becoming more engrossed in digital means of communications and operations, the activities required to deliver goods and services to consumers are at risk.

The U.S. government has recognized this threat and the impact that such attacks can have on millions of people and dozens of connected companies. Legacy systems are particularly exposed in this area, and it will take more than a combination of better cybersecurity training and collaboration across industries to make a positive impact.

Every year, the network encompassing the Internet of Things (IoT) grows greater and greater. With more and more “essential” devices come more stored data, creating more vulnerabilities. Many devices typically have backdoors that allow bad actors access to a device by bypassing normal authentication to data. Computers and phones remain the most vulnerable to this access. However, networked storage devices, cameras, and streaming video devices are right behind them. This has created a new and growing challenge for cyber IT security professionals. 

Patching People: Cybersecurity Training & Hiring

As previously mentioned, human error is consistently one of the greatest causes of security failure. According to the Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 85% of breaches involved a human element. It’s simply not enough to bulk up security software and hardware in hopes of a safer outcome.

Cybersecurity hiring practices need to be updated just as much as the software that experts are using. While an emphasis on education, experience, and certificates is important, there are increasingly useful ways to gauge potential employee success. It may be just as crucial to hire the employee that is the right fit rather than the most credentialed.

Aside from updated hiring practices of new cybersecurity professionals, it’s equally important to provide the proper training of current employees. This can be a difficult concept for certain company departments to grasp. After all, training can be expensive and it does not lead to direct profits. However, with a yearly increase in the potential for a financially costly cyberattack, the value of training (and risk mitigation) is clear.

If a breach occurs, it’s likely due to human error. This can be as simple as an employee opening the wrong attachment. Sometimes all it takes is mistyping a URL and visiting the wrong page. It’s impossible to keep a secure eye over every worker’s shoulder to make sure they don’t slip up.

This is especially true with the advent of working from home. With the landscape of the office continuously shifting, it’s never been more important to train everyone that logs in.

On top of this, more and more employees are using personal devices for work. That doesn’t just include desktops and laptops, but smartphones, as well. Again—security software is simply not enough to protect any company from attack.

After all, if this employee never receives the proper training, how can they be blamed for an honest mistake? More importantly, what good would it do?

Simplify With Cybersecurity Assessment

There are well-known areas of cybersecurity training for employees. These are simple, seemingly common-sense best practices like how to choose the right password and how to avoid phishing emails. They can be more in-depth, as well, like how to spot a social engineering scheme.

However, there are new methods for determining the level of inherent potential an employee has to learn and excel in offensive, defensive, analysis, development, and design roles. In fact, every employee has a baseline for how effective of a cybersecurity worker they would be. While this might have been unknown in the past, it’s now easier than ever to uncover this hidden metric. They don’t even have to be cybersecurity professionals.

The professional cybersecurity industry is, without a doubt, in need of more talent. However, it is difficult to understand how well those who have held non-traditional cybersecurity roles would perform.

Haystack Solutions has developed the world’s only cyber aptitude and talent assessment for this specific purpose. CyberGEN.IQ allows insight into aptitude and qualities future cybersecurity professionals have in order to be placed in the role and company where they can be the most successful. CyberGEN.IQ can help employers make the right hiring decision and ensure the right talent is selected the first time, building high-performing teams for an effective cyber defense despite any prior cybersecurity knowledge. CyberGEN.IQ makes it easy to see exactly what positions are best-fit for cybersec professionals, as well as what training paths would be most beneficial in their future. Features like the probability of success make it easy to sort out the ideal candidates for your company.

See the test in action and schedule a consultation with the Haystack team to discover how the right testing can make all the difference in cybersecurity.

FAQ:

Who is most affected by cyber attacks?

The most affected business sectors, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, were financial services, manufacturing and utilities, and education. Meanwhile, healthcare and professional services actually saw a dip in such issues.

Will cyber attacks still be a threat in 2022?

Ransomware will continue to be a threat; the cost of which is projected to increase to $265 billion by 2031. Financial gain continues to be the top motivation for cyber attacks by far. In fact, as much as 86% percent of attacks can be tracked to monetary gain as the primary reason, according to Verizon.

What is the most common cause of cyber attacks?

Human error is consistently one of the greatest causes of security failure. According to the Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 85% of breaches involved a human element. It’s simply not enough to bulk up security software and hardware in hopes of a safer outcome.