Regardless of how you may feel about modern-day technology, one thing that can not be denied, is its growing influence on our lives. The digital world continues to grow, as more and more people opt to work from home, and more companies migrate over to the web. But, as our reliance on the digital world grows, so does the number of criminals out there, as they seek to take advantage of these new potential victims. The end result is new advancements in the area of cybersecurity and cybercrime. A Ransomware Attack.
In the past couple of years, we have witnessed a number of large companies experiencing data breaches, resulting in unauthorised access to personal affix, such as business and financial accounts or the impersonation of CEOs. From the small online business to the large corporation, there is no company, whether large or small that can escape the risks.
As each day passes, cybercriminals come up with new and clever ways to attack their victims, unfortunately, the victims are doing very little to put up a fight, making their job, all the more easier. It’s your responsibility to ensure your corporation is safe and the only way to do that is to invest in security. That’s where articles such as this come into the equation. The hope is that it will provide you with at least a blueprint, which you can use to help set you on the correct path to ensuring holistic protection of your company and or home computer system.
Cloud Jacking:
Cloud jacking is when a third party infiltrates a cloud computing services. Once they are able to gain access to the cloud computer, they will attempt to make alterations which will allow them to either steal or change sensitive data, or simply eavesdrop on workers, hijack communications and make attempts to seize control of the entire cloud.
During this period, a cybercriminal make use this perfect opportunity to create a phishing scam or scheme. In situations like this, the cybercriminal may decide to upload fake instructions or memos or other such things, directly into the company’s cloud. An employee will then read these memos, thinking they approve, and in turn, go on to download a virus file or follow the instructions laid out in it. A Ransomware Attack.
The end result of this can result in a number of things, such as a computer hacker gaining full access to a company’s network system, to them acquiring sensitive data, to the hacker stealing considerable amounts of company funds, in more rare circumstances.
Rise of Automotive Hacking:
One of the first and biggest trends that we should be seeing right now is the rise in automotive hacking. Vehicles today come with a lot of electronic parts, features and capabilities, which enable things such as cruise control, door looking, engine timing, airbags, auto driving and other new, cool advanced features. All of these vehicles use either Wi-Fi technology or Bluetooth, in order to communicate, this in turn makes them, potentially, vulnerable to computer hackers. We can expect, for this year and the years to follow, for there to be an increase in the number of eavesdroppers. This should coincide with the increasing number of electronic cars taking the road. Autonomous vehicles and self-driving uses a very complex mechanism, which comes with its own cybersecurity measures.
Increasing Number of Healthcare Cyberattacks:
During the unfortunate COVID-19 situation, the healthcare sector has become more important today, than ever before. We have seen many healthcare providers and hospitals become overrun, with the sheer number of patients they’ve had to handle.
The unfortunate reality is that this new focus on patient has taken away the attention and resources that should have a place on cybersecurity. The end result is an industry, which already had major issues with cybercriminals, now struggling even further, to more cyberattacks in the past and likely, in the future. A Ransomware Attack.
In the year 2020, cybercriminals were quick to notice this. In the last quarter of 2020, security reports noted that the number of cyberattacks carried out against hospitals had increased by over 45%, all over the globe. While, we have seen a rapid distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, which has fortunately, decreased the amount of pressure on hospitals, in turn, decreasing the strain, the exploitation that we witnessed in 2020 by these cybercriminals, it is still likely to continue for the next couple of years.
Deepfakes:
A wide variety of industries and individuals have fallen victim to Deepfakes over the last couple of years. A deepfake is basically when an artificial intelligence is use to takes an already existing photo, video or voice recording, and then alters it in such a way, to falsify that individual’s words, actions or image. In fact, Deepfakes have been fairly common place in the political sphere, as a way of making candidates appear to say something, which could ultimately damage their reputation.
When we look at businesses, many expects think that deepfakes will be used by the cybercriminals, in order to impersonate an employee of a company, which they could then use to gain access to confidential data. These false identities can also use for fraud, as computer hackers create fake versions of already existing companies to lure in legitimate consumers of the real business. Deepfakes can also use in a phishing scam, creating a more believable impersonation of a CEO, who could then go on to give up instructions which end up hurting the company.
Targeted A Ransomware Attack:
Another trend which is very significant in the world of cybersecurity, which was all but ignored in 2020, is targeted ransomware. This is especially alarming in more developed nations, as their industries depend more and more on software to carry out their daily duties. These ransomware viruses are more sophisticated and focused, such as the Wanna Cry attack, which was carried out on the National Health Service hospitals across Scotland and England, corrupting over 70,000 medical devices. Although, in most cases, A Ransomware Attack involves, the encryption of one’s personal data, where the victim is required to pay a ransom to regain access to their own data, it is still possible for these kinds of attacks to pose a danger to much larger corporations and in turn, nations, that depend on these corporations for important services, such as healthcare.
AUTHOR INFO-
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website. https://www.compuchenna.co.uk/
