Cybersecurity prediction: Top 10 Cybersecurity trends for 2024

Cybersecurity prediction: Top 10 Cybersecurity trends for 2024

We are just a few steps away from 2024. Throughout 2023, we have seen how cyber-attacks have created massive chaos for large, small, and medium organizations alike. Cybercriminals have utilized AI and ML to engage in complex cyber-attacks. For example, chatbot tools sold on the dark web, such as Fraud GPT, enable even unsophisticated attackers to develop complex cyber-attacking tools and malicious programs like malware. Through our blog, we will look at some of the cybersecurity predictions for 2024. 

2023: a rewind

Before we hop on to the threats of the future, let’s look at some of the cybersecurity facts of 2023: 

• Nearly half of all executives strongly believe cyberattacks will target accounting and other finance-related systems 
  • Only 36% of financial organizations are confident that they are cyber resilient 
• There was an increase in geopolitical cyberattacks. 
  • 86% business leaders and 93% cyber leaders believe global geopolitical instability may cause catastrophic cyber event 
• There was a significant rise in the use of AI and ML to orchestrate cyberattacks 
  • 80% of decision-makers believe that AI and ML-based cyber-attacks will pose a threat with a significant increase in the speed and scale of attacks. 
• Attackers targeted supply chain, OT and IT networks causing massive operational disruption 
  • 39% of larger organizations and 25% of smaller organizations were affected by supply chain attacks 
• Global regulations have become stricter due to the rise in evolving threats. 
  • 60% of all regulated organizations will struggle in compliance with the increased regulations for data protection and breach disclosure requirements by 2060 

2024: Cybersecurity prediction Top 10 cybersecurity trends in 2024

Trend 1: Cybersecurity will become data-driven

Cybersecurity experts predict that cybersecurity will no longer be a secondary priority with the emergence of evolved threat actors and a significant attack surface expansion. As organizations change their gears to speedy digital transformation, they will embrace cybersecurity more seriously than before. It means leaders will prioritize cybersecurity in budgeting and while planning and executing operations. Organizational leaders will take more steps towards increased awareness of cybersecurity. They will implement more data-driven security information systems in the coming year. These systems will lead to a significant industry transformation. 

79% of executives believe that cybersecurity risk management will be their top priority in 2024 

Trend 2: The cyber risks associated with AI outweigh the business benefits 

There will be a speedy adoption of cutting-edge AI to make operations more efficient across multiple departments. However, experts predict that the cybersecurity risks associated with AI are far more than its business benefits.  For example, there is more threat from Artificial Intelligence-based attack tools sold on dark web markets, and it assists even novice attackers to engage in sophisticated attacks.  2024 will have more such AI-based attacks. It could include AI-based spear-phishing campaigns to orchestrate more dangerous attacks such as business email compromise attacks or ransomware attacks. Threat actors can train AI-based malicious engines to orchestrate sophisticated attacks.  

 In 2024, organizations will need to keep their security posture in check and assess their posture through assessment and take measures to treat all the vulnerabilities prevalent in the cybersecurity posture, encompassing the best practices in security.   

80% of the organizations believe that they will fail to defend against AI-based cyber-attacks in 2024 

Trend 3: The operational risks associated with cybersecurity will be a high priority in 2024 

With cybersecurity requirements getting more and more similar among governments across the globe, especially in the critical infrastructure sectors, cybersecurity will no longer be considered a secondary priority in 2024. Leaders will prioritize cybersecurity risk assessment. Additionally, they will take measures to address the security weaknesses in the posture with the best practices in security as recommended by regulatory bodies globally.  

There will be a significant reduction in operational disruption because of increased awareness of cybersecurity best practices. Cybersecurity will become part of the operational governance requirements with measures implemented in OT and IoT environments 

There was a 633% increase in supply chain attacks since 2022    

Trend 4: The shift to digital will only widen the cybersecurity skills gap 

The shift to digital will only widen the cybersecurity skills gap. As businesses embrace digital, there will be an increased talent shortage due to a lack of awareness to work on such technology. Take AI and ML-based cybersecurity tools, for example.  There might be more advanced tools that might require additional skills to master.  

The cybersecurity skills gap will widen even more in 2024, and businesses will reevaluate planning their cybersecurity. There will be increased reliance on multiple vendors for security, and it will be even more difficult for companies to establish a cybersecurity team on their own, let alone a dedicated SOC team that could offer them round-the-clock security. It will become even more challenging to identify all the flaws in their posture and implement all the measures for addressing them.   

71% of security experts believed that their organization faced a cybersecurity skills shortage in 2023 

Trend 5: MSPs will offer more of automated security platforms due to lack of cybersecurity talent 

MSPs will offer more automated security platforms due to a lack of cybersecurity talent. The widening cybersecurity skills gap will lead to more and more businesses facing uncertainty in cybersecurity. It may also make them more exposed to threats unavertable by standalone measures for cybersecurity. As cybersecurity positions keep getting vacant every year (3.4 million in 2022), experts think it is highly likely that MSPs will start offering services based on automated security platforms.  

It will also mean that MSPs form a team of their own, comprising experts who can offer round-the-clock security through a security operations center (SOC) offering the human touch much needed in cybersecurity. It is a big if for MSPs given it is a highly expensive investment to build a Security Operations Center from scratch. For example, a basic level of SOC with limited detection and investigation capability will cost around $1.5 million. Therefore, MSPs would need to rethink the way they will make up for limited teams in 2024.   

Gartner has predicted that a cybersecurity talent shortage will result in at least 50% of cyber incidents.    

Trend 6: Business leaders  will aim towards tech consolidation for simplifying cybersecurity 

Cybersecurity is getting more and more complex over the years. Some of the primary reasons include the increasing cost of cybersecurity solutions on a year-on-year basis, increased siloing of cybersecurity solutions, and increased reliance on multiple vendors for meeting multiple aspects of cybersecurity. This adds to the problem of not having the expertise on board to manage cybersecurity solutions such that businesses can fetch maximum value from them. Since cybersecurity won’t be easier to manage, it will be challenging for leaders to plan contingencies in case of cyber incidents such that all their information security assets are safeguarded, and they can control damage and make an effective recovery. Due to all of the reasons above, it is highly likely, that business leaders will look for technological consolidation to simplify cybersecurity.    

55% of business leaders will aim towards tech consolidation for the sake of simplifying cybersecurity 

Trend 7: There will be a rise in AI based vishing in 2024 

There will be a rise in AI-based vishing in 2024  

Vishing is voice-based phishing. It is when cybercriminals call their targets pretending to be someone genuine, using social engineering techniques to steal useful personal and financial information. For example, they can pose as a person calling from a company you know or pretend to be a person from work, a colleague, or a boss.  

Cybercriminals use Voice over IP (VoIP) to target thousands of users who answer. Once their victim answers the call the cybercriminal will use multiple social engineering techniques to manipulate their target into giving away their personal and financial information and engaging in monetary transactions.  

Earlier, this used to rely heavily on humans to whom calls used to be diverted. Scammers operate from large call centers baiting their victims to make a transaction or give away information that later on can be exploited.  However, this will soon change. Cybercriminals will likely leverage AI and ML-based deepfake audio and LLMs (large language models) to target their victims. They can leverage the deepfake-based voice to sound more convincing to victims.    

85% of all vishing attacks are rooted in free emailing services 

Trend 8: There will be rise in quantum cryptography 

Ransomware attacks work on targeting businesses and locking out their assets using encryption. They often lead to massive data breaches exposing all the information assets of even some of the biggest companies in the world. Adding to this is the added challenge of non-compliance which would often have a significant impact on organizations financially and reputationally.  

Due to the risks associated with data breaches, organizations in 2024 will be implementing quantum cryptography which is a cutting-edge way to secure communication that virtually makes all the communication immune to eavesdropping.  

It provides a more potent and secure way for two parties to communicate using principles of quantum mechanics to transmit information. Quantum cryptography is still in its early stages, but cybersecurity experts believe that it has immense potential to bring superior levels of privacy and security in the age of digital. It can certainly reduce the possibility of encryption breaches to a significant level. 

Breaches caused by ransomware rose by 41% in 2022, and they took 49 days longer to contain    

Trend 9: The use of QR has gained quick popularity in retail, hospitality, and other businesses. 

More restaurants and retail shops are offering QR as a new experience to customers.   

With more customers getting used to using QR, it has started to slowly develop customer behavior that could pose a cyber risk of redirecting them to a malicious site. A new form of phishing known as quishing has emerged where cybercriminals target their victims.   Since many users of the QR codes are unaware of the cyber risks associated with it, they may likely visit a malicious website and enter their personal and financial information there.   

Many users are unaware of the cybersecurity best practices to follow to verify whether the link they are visiting is safe to visit.  QR codes are used in almost every local shop and restaurant, attackers can even go as far as to alter the codes, and experts predict that in 2024 a big breach might happen that might be caused due to someone socially engineered to use malicious QR code.    

Quishing forms 22% of all phishing attempts in the world. It is expected to grow in 2024. 

Trend 10: Increased maturity of DevSecOps development cycles 

As modern threats keep evolving and their techniques become more challenging to decipher, security experts are thinking of implementing measures for proactive security. This also means working more efficiently and automating routine security tasks so that they can focus on what is more important. 2024 will see more maturity in DevSecOps. More organizations will include DevSecOps in the early stages of software development as security experts navigate how to work more efficiently in combating the threats of tomorrow.   

22% of high-level security businesses have implemented the advanced stage of DevSecOps 

Implement proactive security with SharkStriker’s STRIEGO 

In a world where businesses are increasing their pace towards going fully digital, it has become a challenge for them to address all their cybersecurity needs. Especially with the evolving threat landscape with cybercriminals leveraging cutting-edge technology such as AI and Ml to orchestrate attacks.  Whether it is from the increasing cost of cybersecurity solutions, siloing of the cybersecurity functions, increasing reliance on vendors, or any other challenge, cybersecurity has become more complex. SharkStriker is here to change that with STRIEGO.   

It provides proactive defense against the threats of tomorrow with a unified multi-tenant, open architecture-based platform backed by a dedicated team of cybersecurity experts who channel their expertise to provide high return on investment from all the existing cybersecurity investments.    

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