Cybersecurity threats permeate multiple layers of society, from the national to the organizational and personal levels. And threats are on the rise. Forbes reports 2,365 cyberattacks in 2023—a 72 percent increase from 2021. The 2023 attacks affected over 343 million people. Despite the best defense efforts, cyberattacks are increasing instead of decreasing. Cybercriminals are putting economic stability and national security at risk. Organizationally, companies face operational disruptions, financial loss, and reputation damage. On a personal level, individuals are subjected to identity theft, online harassment, and financial loss.
Why are cybersecurity threats continuing to get worse instead of better? One reason is that cyber-attackers were quick to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which significantly increased the sophistication of their attacks. At the same time, security is not prioritized at the software creation level, which includes application and infrastructure development. Also, leadership in the cyberdefense area is lacking. It’s vital for leaders to take charge immediately, create a strategic vision of what success looks like, and then make some hard decisions to ensure better cybersecurity. If these steps are not taken, cyberattacks will continue to worsen without improvement. That’s why a security-first mindset is essential.
Expanding and Evolving Cybersecurity Threats
People view cybersecurity differently, but a failure to maintain a high level of cybersecurity means the same thing for most people—loss. It could be financial, job, personal, or reputation loss. To avoid experiencing loss, all individuals and corporations need to assess their cybersecurity threats and make plans to mitigate them. Some common factors that are contributing to increasing cybersecurity risk include:
- Remote work. The popularity of remote work has increased, making securing company assets more complex. Today, security doesn’t just have to cover the enterprise networks; it also extends to employees’ homes and personal devices.
- AI advancement. While the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has had many positive effects, it has also increased the sophistication of cyberthreats, making them more challenging to defend against. This can be seen, in particular, in ransomware attacks, which increased by 68 percent in 2023 compared to 2022 due to the constantly evolving threat landscape.
- Internet of Things (IoT) growth. The explosive expansion of IoT and smart devices has given attackers more to exploit. Plus, the progression has been so swift that many organizations and individuals struggle to keep track of device inventory and stay current on device updates, which further increases attack vulnerability.
- Geopolitical instability. Global conflicts, such as the war between Ukraine and Russia, have also contributed to an increase in cybersecurity threats. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its Global Financial Stability Report released in April 2024, said that heightened geopolitical tensions have caused the risk of a cyberattack with “systematic consequences” to rise dramatically.
These dangerous circumstances have increased various cyberattack types, including phishing, social engineering, ransomware, and malware. For instance, in December of 2023, 23andMe suffered a data breach that exposed the data of 6.9 million users. Earlier last year, Walmart suffered a cyberattack that likely exposed the protected health information of 85,000 people. MGM Grand lost an estimated $80 million in revenue over five days due to a ransomware attack. Then, in January of 2024, there was what is being called the “Mother of All Breaches” (MOAB), in which a massive 12 terabytes of information and over 26 billion records were exposed. Organizations caught up in that attack include Twitter, LinkedIn, Tencent, and Canva.
Governments and individuals are not faring any better than companies when it comes to security breaches. In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mail saw a 6.5 percent drop in revenue and a 5 percent drop in international parcel volumes due to a 2023 ransomware attack. The U.S. government reported that in 2023, it suffered 100 cases of private data exposure that affected over 15 million people. Ransomware attacks on U.S. government organizations, including several state governments, cost over $860 million from 2018-2023. The University of Florida recently stated that a phishing attack costs individual victims an average of $173. At a time when serious monetary damages are regularly associated with cyberattacks, it is crucial that companies, governments, and individuals take steps to protect themselves.
How to Prevent Common Cyberattacks
What can be done at the national, organizational, and personal levels to protect against cyberattacks? Greater reliance on AI and ML for advanced threat detection, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics is a powerful first step. Adoption of zero-trust security models, which assume that threats can exist inside and outside the network and require verification for every access request, can also be highly effective. Additional beneficial actions include adopting cloud-native security tools, implementing backup and recovery plans for ransomware attacks, and creating governance frameworks to monitor compliance efforts at the national and organizational levels. It is also essential for those at all levels to monitor IoT and quantum computing growth to prepare for future threats.
Additional steps to prioritize security at the national and organizational levels include taking inventory, simplifying infrastructure, establishing real-time monitoring and threat intelligence, and conducting regular cybersecurity training. Developing and regularly updating incident response plans, incorporating security considerations into system design and development, continually reviewing system users, and limiting administrative access are also important. Additional tips include assessing and managing the risk of third-party vendors and partners, establishing a culture that stresses cyber preparedness, and fostering collaboration between teams.
At the individual level, using strong passwords and never sharing personal information with strangers is vital. Also, individuals need to keep programs and applications up to date, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on accounts, and stay educated and current on the latest cyberthreats and the most effective cyberdefense techniques. For these reasons, individuals need to stay alert to potential breaches since scams can happen to anyone, no matter what their knowledge and experience are.
Keeping an accurate inventory is a vital part of cyber defense at the national, organizational and individual levels to ensure that vulnerable areas receive the attention they deserve. It’s one thing to talk about planning a defense against attacks and preparing incident response plans. Yet even before cyber defense is addressed, it’s crucial to complete an up-to-date, detailed inventory of applications, servers, firewalls, people, and permissions. After this comprehensive inventory is prepared, potential issues become more apparent, and a better incident response plan can be crafted. On the other hand, without clear visibility into an organization or individual’s inventory, the risk of chaos after an attack increases significantly.
Security First
Another factor contributing to the increase in cyberattacks is that companies aren’t being punished severely enough when they allow a breach. In many cases, it is easier and cheaper to continue to put data at risk than invest money in cyber defense when all they have to do after an attack is send a letter about the breach and offer their customers one or two years of credit monitoring. With expected advances in AI and increases in smart devices (TVs, appliances, etc.), hackers will soon have even more attack surfaces to exploit, further increasing the odds of costly and damaging attacks.
That’s why it is imperative for organizations to ensure forward-looking leadership when it comes to security and for engineering leaders to prioritize security at the development level, taking a proactive approach to cyber defense. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leaders who “Keep It Simple” (KIS) during infrastructure planning help ensure systems are easy to understand, manage, and secure. When organizations are mesmerized by complex new solutions, they often overlook that a straightforward approach can be easier to maintain and will provide better security. Remember, innovation doesn’t always mean adopting new products; it can also mean embracing straightforward solutions that yield substantial benefits.
About the Author
Anil Mahale is an accomplished cybersecurity leader with more than 15 years of experience. He is currently a director of engineering and oversees a zero trust/network segmentation product line and platform engineering for a network security business unit. Anil has successfully led numerous high-impact projects throughout his career in both offensive and defensive security across numerous product lines and infrastructure. He was one of the chief developers of UCSniff, a vulnerability assessment tool. Active in the cybersecurity community, he is a fellow at BCS, a senior member at IEEE, and leads the OWASP Dallas chapter. Anil holds a master’s degree in computer science from The University of Texas at Dallas. Connect with Anil on LinkedIn.
Disclaimer: The author is completely responsible for the content of this article. The opinions expressed are their own and do not represent IEEE’s position nor that of the Computer Society nor its Leadership.
