By Jessica Bullet, Software Tested
This year, many organizations have shifted from the onsite work setup to the hybrid work setting. And cybercriminals seem to be very happy with such change as they have seen plenty of loopholes that they can take advantage of.
As this work setting is expected to continue in 2022, we can somehow expect more and more of these attacks. Hence, organizations are advised to improve cybersecurity awareness to be able to come up with robust and solid defense plans against inevitable cybersecurity scenarios.
Below, we have enumerated some new cybersecurity challenges organizations should prepare for as we approach the new year.
Challenge #1: Lack of Cybersecurity Awareness
Cyber threats are becoming more aggressive each day, so organizations must take the necessary steps to improve and strengthen their networks. Through cybersecurity awareness, data theft and network hacks that can destroy their reputation can be prevented.
But the problem is that the employees of many organizations are not that aware of the threats that are present online, and they don’t even know what cyberattack methods are being used. According to reports, about 97% of the population cannot even identify a phishing email. What’s worse is that 1 in 25 people click on these emails, causing them to lose their sensitive information to hackers.
Challenge #2: Phishing Attacks Are Now Geo-Targeted
Phishing attacks are already prevalent today. But in 2022, it is expected that this type of cyberattack will become more targeted. What this means is that cybercriminals will use advanced methods to plan and launch phishing attacks that are localized and personalized.
To prevent this, organizations are advised to invest in comprehensive cybersecurity awareness programs. They can also use software programs within their network that can recognize any suspicious phishing patterns.
Challenge #3: More Attacks on the Healthcare Sector
Data breaches caused by online attacks have been the top problem in the healthcare sector in the past years. As a matter of fact, about 157.40 million healthcare records were said to be exposed from 2015 to 2019.
These data breaches have caused the healthcare sector to suffer in terms of costs. Records suggest that an average of $7.13 million was lost by the healthcare industry in 2020 alone. That is the reason businesses in this industry are now investing in digital security measures.
However, with the recent health crisis, a lot of healthcare organizations had no choice but to adjust their cybersecurity measures to allow staff to access information even while working at home. Others even had to bypass security and firewall protocols to give way to the hybrid work setup.
This goes to show that cyberattacks in the healthcare industry may not end very soon, and they will continue to be a threat to health organizations in 2022.
Challenge #4: Poor Cloud Security
Cloud management software solutions are being used by organizations today as they make it easier for members of an organization to access files and data, regardless of where they are located. However, most of these solutions do not offer authentication and encryption protocols. This means IT professionals need to work to improve cloud security.
If this continues in 2022, and cloud management software solutions will still be poorly configured, cybercriminals can easily bypass internal policies and files.
Challenge #5: More Threats to Education
With the need to adapt to online learning, cybersecurity is needed now more than ever. Cybersecurity challenges in the education sector primarily revolve around data. This year alone, three universities were attacked by hackers, which caused lots of student admission data to be compromised.
As more and more cyberattacks are targeting the education sector, institutions are forced to adapt to cybersecurity measures, which involves the use of post-perimeter security and limiting access to the cloud.
Challenge #6: IoT Vulnerabilities
IoT devices have presented lots of opportunities for both cybercriminals and businesses. As IoT continues to connect the virtual realm to the physical world, data theft through these devices are also becoming a scary possibility. In 2018 alone, Symantec revealed that compromised routers accounted for more than half of all IoT attacks. Connected cameras, on the other hand, accounted for 15%. So, while these IoT devices exist, cybersecurity issues will continue.
Challenge #7: Mobile Devices as Cybersecurity Loopholes
Nearly everyone today has a smartphone, and we use them to complete banking transactions, book flights and hotels, and go shopping. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have seen an opportunity to use these devices as attack vectors. Smartphones are being used by criminals to launch cyberattacks.
In 2019, almost 70% of fraudulent transactions that have been recorded were from mobile platforms. The popular attack vectors used were malware entities.
What’s Next?
No one knows what the future of cybersecurity will be. And to this day, many industries are still looking for ways to improve their IT networks. Hopefully, the challenges we have listed above can provide us with helpful insight into what we can expect in the next year. What’s really clear now is that IT administrators will be having a busy year ahead.
Jessica Bullet is a professional content writer and editor for Software Tested, writing about all sorts of technology topics under the sun. As a computer programmer, she is able to tap into her expertise on computers and gadgets to help others resolve their tech problems.
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