Top Security Predictions for 2021 in Post Lockdown

Cyber threats and security are increasing with increasing digitisation. Sarabjeet Khurana, Country Manager (SE Asia/India & SAARC), DigiCert, talked to DQ Channels about what security trends will manifest in 2021. He mentioned the following trends -

Social engineered attacks will get more complex

According to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report for 2020, social engineering is a top attack vector for hackers, and we expect threat actors to leverage current events to unprecedented levels.

"Based on different identifiers like location, attack behaviour, global threat intelligence and IP address, retailers will focus on creating custom web security rules. This would provide them a better view of trusted users and traffic which in turn would enhance their web security."

--Sarabjeet Khurana, Country Manager (SE Asia/India & SAARC), DigiCert

Khurana said that we should consider the following -

 Unemployment fraud: With unemployment fraud at an all-time high, we will see an even larger increase in 2021 as pandemic-focused unemployment programs from governments have lowered the barriers to collecting benefits, and security methods have not been able to keep up. According to Khurana, whether we see additional stimulus funding from governments to provide relief for the effects of the pandemic, this will only make this a richer channel for fraudsters.

 COVID-19: Scammers will utilise social engineering to dupe users into providing a mailing address, phone number and credit card number with a promise to charge 25 cents to verify their information and qualify for a free COVID-19 testing offer.

 More COVID: The offer of fake, “government-approved” cutting edge technologies to fight COVID and take the temperature of those in proximity will trick users into downloading malicious apps on their smart devices that can be leveraged for nefarious activities by threat actors.

Shortcomings in data security are going to cause a slowing effect on telehealth organisations due to an increase in targeted attacks

Telehealth providers are opening themselves up to cyberattacks on an unprecedented scale. Prior to the pandemic, telehealth comprised only a small fraction of medical visits. However, beginning in March 2020, much of medicine suddenly shifted to the telehealth model. The value of a single health record is high, and this will become a growing target for fraudsters looking to take advantage of this situation.

The “New Normal” will be under attack

Khurana predicts that individuals and businesses alike will adjust to a new normal sometime in 2021. This new normal will result in an increase of travel, a reduction in unemployment, and a transition for workers to return to the office, leading to threat actors’ attacks on the following:

 Travel: Fraudsters looking to take advantage of the new normal will target vacation-starved travellers looking for good deals online or via email. Phishing attacks will be the tool of choice and will be leveraged successfully by fraudsters.

 Back to the office: As workers return to the office, there will be a steady crescendo of applications offered by threat actors with the promise of increased productivity tools to ease the transition to the office. Tools such as apps that provide ambient sounds will be leveraged in these attacks.

 Data Breach News: News of data breaches will increase in 2021 as the public learns of exploits on companies that haven’t done a good job securing their remote workforce. In India, Data breaches have shown a 37 percent increase in cyber-attacks in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 2019.

2021 will bring increased focus on automation and efficiency solutions in the security market

 As organisations work to keep the lights on and scrutinize the bottom line, there will be a resulting push for efficiency in security technologies.

 2021 will bring an emphasis on technologies that allow organisations to do more with less, and automation will play a significant role in terms of security innovation in the New Year.

 A consolidation of security vendors will take place in 2021 as businesses look to reduce the number of vendors within their environments. Trusted vendors with leading global technology and local resources where their customers live will be valued, as will be their emphasis on automation of security tasks

 As security investments focus on immediate value, Quantum Computing will continue to move forward.

Surge in E-commerce sites: Both B2B and B2C eCommerce sites will continue seeing a huge traction as people are shopping online owing to certain restrictions in place. A report published by IBEF said that the Indian E-commerce market is growing at a steady pace and is expected to be valued at $200 billion by the year 2026. Owing to this, based on different identifiers like location, attack behaviour, global threat intelligence and IP address, retailers will focus on creating custom web security rules. This would provide them a better view of trusted users and traffic which in turn would enhance their web security.