The year of 2018 has been a wild ride when it comes to cybersecurity worldwide. The year before, in 2017, cyber-attacks cost small and medium-sized businesses an average of $2,235,000, as stated by Ponemon 2017 State of Cybersecurity in SMBs. We are still waiting for official statistics on how many cyberattacks took place during 2018. For all we know, there were too many data breaches and security incidents to count.
Besides large corporations that struggled with security issues (yes, we are talking about Facebook), even small companies had to face challenges in forming effective security systems. In other words, cybercriminals have created such sophisticate hacking methods that are becoming more and more difficult to defeat. Here are five cybersecurity predictions for the upcoming year of 2019.
#1 Hackers Will Shift Their Targets
Hackers have cracked the code to some of the world’s most sophisticated security systems, ranging from Google’s defense systems to Facebook’s databases. There is no doubt that their methods are getting more complex and far more sophisticated than those we are already used to. In 2019, we can expect cybercriminals to start placing focus on large corporations, as hacking into those systems is more profitable for them. However, that doesn’t mean that individual users and smaller businesses will be safe. We’re expecting cybercriminals to start shifting their targets from large corporations to individual users and vice versa, which will make them a lot more difficult to defend against.
#2 GDPR Will Grow Stronger
The GDPR became active on May 25th, 2018. Ever since then, companies had to comply with the new, far stricter rules regarding the security of customers’ personal data. All companies that collect data from EU citizens had to go through lengthy processes or revising their services to ensure that every single action they take complies with the law. As the 2019 approaches, we are expecting the GDPR rules to become even stricter, which means that companies who are not complying with the regulations will face financial fines. For all we know, these financial fines can go up to 4 million dollars. GDPR is significantly going to improve data security, which means that hackers will have to try harder to in order to execute large data breaches.
#3 Single-Factor Passwords Will Be a Thing of the Past
Hackers are simply becoming way too powerful to be stopped by a single-factor password. These authentication systems will no longer be effective in preventing unauthorized users’ access to certain files and accounts. In fact, hackers are going to target accounts with single-factor passwords because they will be the easiest ones to hack in 2019. We recommend all businesses, as well as individual users, to start creating multi-factor passwords and strengthening their login credentials.
#4 Artificial Intelligence Will Be Exploited
We have come a long way with artificial intelligence and the development of machine learning. This technology has helped improve businesses in various sectors and industries. Unfortunately, hackers are starting to catch up and they are expected to start exploiting AI technologies for malicious purposes. This will pose a great threat to businesses all over the world, especially the ones without proper defense systems. It is most likely that hackers will begin using AI to make their malware indestructible and, in most cases, unrecognizable.
#5 Mobile Devices Will Be at Risk
Mobile devices have always been an easy target for hackers. In 2019, they will become one of the easiest entryways for hackers who aim to gain access to confidential files and databases. It is going to take a lot of effort on our side to raise awareness regarding mobile security issues, as well as to educate users on how to prevent attacks and protect their personal data.
Conclusion
If 2018 was a wild ride, 2019 is going to be even wilder! Technology developments are moving faster than ever and, unfortunately, hackers are easily catching up to us and finding holes in our defense systems. These five predictions accurately paint the picture of what 2019 is going to look like from a cybersecurity perspective.
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