5 Reasons Why Hackers Will Have a Bumper Harvest

In the coming years we can expect an even larger and more sophisticated wave of theft, fraud, extortion and deactivation of the various services run by businesses and public organisations. Here are a few reasons cybercrime will flourish in the coming years.

Geopolitical tensions

Increasing tensions in the world economy, trade wars, embargoes and sanctions, as well as minor military conflicts, will lead to much more frequent and widespread cyber-attacks than ever before. Some countries are already into a cyber-arms race. That is, building capabilities to cripple military communication and control infrastructure and public services, while defending themselves against such attacks. The recent reaction of the USA to the shooting down of an Iranian spy drone has also foreshadowed a lot. Although Trump reportedly considered responding with conventional weapons, the United States response was ultimately a cyber-attack.

Use of social networks

When the Pentagon investigated an intrusion into one of its computers in connection with Russia's interference in the elections, they found it came via Twitter. More specifically, through a link attached to a tweet that promised a ‘family-friendly summer vacation’. Up to one fifth of organisations are infected by malware over social networks and hackers are earning at least $ 3.25 billion a year from social media cybercrime.Social networks play an increasing role in supporting cybercrime because of the great trust we place in them, as well as the lack of control and regulation. The main misuses of social networks include not only the spread of malware, but also the trade of hacking services, for which the dark web has especially been used so far. 

Expansion of 5G networks

Besides the deployment of 5G networks, the number of devices, sensors and various devices connected to the internet will increase. Simultaneously, the diversity and density of IoT devices will complicate their protection against cyber threats and open the door to hackers for new types of attacks. Including fifth-generation multi-vector cyber-attacks that are designed to directly infect multiple components of the technology infrastructure (network elements, virtual servers, end devices), usually without the knowledge of conventional security features such as a firewall.

Deepfake

Increasingly available artificial intelligence (AI) technologies make it easy to manipulate photos, videos and audio recordings, not just for discrediting individuals or businesses. In one energy company, for example, fraudsters faithfully mimicked the CEO's voice and made off with $ 243,000. Social engineering, in which attackers strive to psychologically manipulate people to gain access to a system or to compromise data, takes on a new dimension. Almost two-fifths of organisations in Slovakia consider social engineering as one of the biggest external threats to IT security.

Drones

In 2019, 14 billion drones were sold worldwide and their sales will increase several times over in the next few years. Not much is being said about how drones can be hacked or used to infiltrate other devices or systems. Drones are cheap, and, undetected they can reach places otherwise inaccessible. Therefore, they will be abused in the next decade by hackers in an attempt to retrieve sensitive data, tamper with control systems, or attempt to shut down alarms or online connections and thereby disrupting traffic