Cybersecurity trends are bound to change significantly over the coming few years and there are many reasons why.

First, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted business security more than earlier anticipated. During the pandemic, about 25% of businesses experienced an increase in the cost of managing cybersecurity as threats increased 238%.

The Tech Jury reports that companies experienced 22 security threats in 2020, on average, with costs of managing threats predicted to top $6 trillion by the end of 2021.

Another reason we may see a new shift in how businesses approach cybersecurity is the unprecedented shift to remote work.

Already, 16% of companies globally have switched to 100% remote work while another 40% have part of their workforce working remotely.

Remote work exposes organizations to new cybersecurity issues. For example, protecting personal devices is especially more difficult when employees work from home.

Monitoring networks and checking whether the employee’s software is up-to-date is also more difficult for remote workers.

With these factors in mind, organizations are also likely to adopt new approaches to meet their cybersecurity objectives in 2021 and onwards.

10 Cybersecurity Trends (Challenges and Solutions) To Expect in 2021/22

Below, we explore the top 10 cybersecurity trends (challenges and solutions) to expect in 2021/22 and beyond.

Home offices the new top target

For a long time, cybercriminals targeted offices in the big cities to steal data and execute their attacks. That’s because nearly all valuable company data was stored in the city offices.

However, that has changed significantly in the recent past as more and more employees shift to remote work.

Now, employees have valuable organization data on their laptops and PCs and regularly access critical company data from their home offices, making home offices the new top target.

A rise in insider threats

In line with the rise in home office threats, we’ll also likely witness an increase in insider threats. The reasons remain the same as home office threats.

As more employees shift to remote work, keeping close control of your workforce will become more of a dream.

Many employees will easily find themselves sharing critical information with strangers, enabling easy access for the bad guys.

Ransomware to skyrocket

Unfortunately, ransomware is increasingly becoming a serious bother and one of the cybersecurity trends in 2021 and beyond, and we’re likely to see a rise in ransomware incidences for three reasons. First, past success is likely to encourage attackers.

Ransomware is one of the most lucrative businesses for attackers, guaranteeing attackers $4.44 million per attack on average. Secondly, the massive shift to remote work provides easier attack points that will encourage ransomware attackers.

Lastly, the new breed of sophisticated cyberattack tools will allow attackers to execute even more successful attacks.

Increased attack of cloud services

Cloud adoption is at its highest point ever as businesses scramble to take advantage of the massive advantages of cloud computing including efficiency and lower costs.

However, this massive shift to the cloud is bound to be met with challenges as hackers also take their businesses to the cloud.

Misconfigured cloud settings, for instance, cost businesses over $4.41 million, on average, in data breaches in 2021.

A stronger investment in data privacy

Personal users are constantly reminded of the need to keep their personally identifiable information (PII) records safe. although many have heeded to call, a large number have still ended up on the wrong end, losing valuable information to criminals.

Expect to see stronger regulatory compliance requirements to force individuals and corporates to keep PII safer. For instance, we expect harsher punishments for organizations that store PII without the user’s consent.

A rise in Covid-19 phishing schemes

Sadly, Covid-19 phishing schemes will be part of the cybersecurity trends we will have to contend with going forward. This is already happening everywhere and is likely to increase even further into 2022 and beyond.

First, it was phishers posing as government authorities and asking individuals and organizations to divulge critical information as part of containment.

However, after the discovery of the covid-19 vaccine, the trick has changed. Phishers are now posing as health agencies, extorting public and private institutions to pay for vaccines that never arrive.

Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS)?

Yes, it could happen. Malware-as-a-service essentially means leasing malware in the form of software in exchange for a subscription fee. It works exactly like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform but leases malware instead of ethical software.

The biggest challenge with MaaS is that it significantly increases the threat base as anyone can become a malware distributor. Customers can lease botnets that work for infected computers for a small fee.

Evolved social engineering schemes

Social engineering is another cybersecurity trend and one of the most potent tools in the cybercriminal’s toolbox.

By manipulating people, the hacker can penetrate individual and organization computer systems in full watch, without anyone suspecting anything. Currently, there are more than 50 million social engineering attempts daily.

However, the number is expected to shoot significantly. More importantly, experts predict social engineering schemes to become more sophisticated and difficult to trace.

Extended Detection and Response (EDR)

All the eight above are potential new cybersecurity threats and risks to expect in 2021 and beyond. Now, let’s look at two potential solutions that could make the internet a safer place for businesses as we head into the future.

The first one is Extended Detection and Response (EDR). EDR is a cybersecurity technology that allows organizations to continuously monitor and mitigate cyberattacks.

It collects and automatically correlates data from multiple security layers, including email, serves, and cloud networks, for faster threat detection and mitigation.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Last on the cybersecurity trends that will become popular in 2021 and beyond is secure access service edge (SASE).

SASE is a network architecture designed to provide organizations with cloud-based, uninterrupted access to users, no matter the location, without compromising security.

Think of it as a convergence of wide-area networks (WANs) and security, a solution that creates a simplified cloud service for efficiency and increased security.

SASE infrastructures can become the gatekeepers to corporate networks, delivering secure access to the appropriate applications and users.

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The cybersecurity landscape is bound to change significantly over the next few years. We’ll likely see new types of threats, types of hackers, and even cybercriminal gangs working in groups to perpetrate attacks.

Therefore, organizations need to be smarter. And you too need to get even smarter by making sure you have the right skills to get started in the cybersecurity industry.

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