CS Mar-Apr 2024

2024 predictions
UNCERTAINTY THE ONLY CERTAINTY
PART 2 OF COMPUTING SECURITY'S DELVE INTO HOW THE 'DARKER FORCES'
OF CYBER SECURITY MIGHT IMPACT THE INDUSTRY IN THE MONTHS AHEAD
With 2024 awell underway, how it is
likely to pan out for the security
industry is a matter of certainty,
conjecture, opinion and guesswork. What is
certain is that it won't be any easier a ride than
previous years when it comes to warding off
the hackers and attackers, the ransomware
demands, the less appealing aspects of AI or
the many other threats that have to be faced
up to and resisted. With those caveats in mind,
here are the thoughts on what lies ahead,
delivered by several of those in the know.
JEFF WILLIAMS, CTO AND CO-FOUNDER,
CONTRAST SECURITY:
"Now that many people are working from
home, due to coronavirus, businesses up and
down the land are facing unprecedented
cybersecurity challenges. Unfortunately, one of
those challenges is that hackers are already
attempting to capitalise on the crisis by
attacking with viruses of their own. In fact,
thousands of COVID-19-related websites are
being launched by
cybercriminals.
"As organisations and workers navigate this
new work-from-home world and the threats
that come with it, the World Economic Forum
has provided a checklist of ways that individual
users and businesses can protect from cyberattacks
during COVID-19 that are helpful:
"Better understand threats to the organisation.
Since more employees are working
from home, security teams need to identify
likely attack vectors and prioritise the protection
of their most sensitive information
and business-critical applications
"Provide clear guidance and encourage
communication. Companies need to
ensure that security policies for workers
are clear and easy to follow. This includes
instructing employees to communicate
with internal security teams about any
suspicious activities
"Ensure the right security capabilities.
Organisations need to ensure that all
corporate-owned or managed devices are
equipped with the best security capabilities,
extending the same network security best
practices that exist within the enterprise
to all remote environments."
PHILIP BRIDGE, PRESIDENT, ONTRACK:
"Changes in our work habits can cause us
to make mistakes that we might not have
ordinarily made. Remote working has added
a huge number of endpoints to organisations
that may not have been there previously.
Systems that are now being used to connect
to a company's infrastructure may not have
been vetted or provided by the employer.
These new endpoints may be lacking in the
security controls that corporate machines
would have.
"Remote working also gives corporations less
control over their employees - what they are
doing and when. More distractions at home
can lead to increased engagement in risky
behaviour such as clicking on links they
wouldn't usually click on if they were in the
office.
"We have to remember that cybersecurity is
mostly a human issue; the employee
controlling the computer will always be the
weakest point of any system, for example;
ransomware through a phishing email only
has legs, if an employee clicks on the link in
the email. Employees need to be extra vigilant
when remote working to ensure they are
keeping optimal security practices."
COREY NACHREINER, CHIEF SECURITY
OFFICER, WATCHGUARD TECHNOLOGIES
"The most prominent attacks and information
security trends the WatchGuard Threat Lab
believes will emerge in 2024 include: malicious
prompt engineering tricks targeting large
language models (LLMs); managed service
providers (MSPs) doubling down on unified
security platforms with heavy automation;
'Vishers' scaling their malicious operations with
AI-based voice chatbots; and hacks on modern
VR/MR headsets… to name a few.
"Every new technology trend opens up new
attack vectors for cybercriminals. In 2024,
we believe that emerging threats targeting
companies and individuals will be even more
intense, complicated and difficult to manage.
With an ongoing cybersecurity skills shortage,
the need for MSPs [managed service
providers], unified security, and automated
platforms to bolster cybersecurity and protect
organisations from the ever-evolving threat
landscape has never been greater.
"While people are experimenting with LLMs
to increase operational efficiency, threat actors
are learning how to maliciously exploit LLMs,"
states Nachreiner. "Using techniques like
prompt injection or prompt extraction, threat
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