Five Cybersecurity predictions for 2024

2023 has been a crazy year for cybersecurity. We had some of the biggest incidents like the Okta data breach, the LastPass hack, and the MGM ransomware attack. At the same time, there were some major wins like the toppling of the Black Cat ransomware group.

And now as the year comes to an end, it’s time for a review of the trends that we’ve seen in 2023 and how they will affect businesses going forward.

Here are 5 cybersecurity predictions that you can use to inform your cyber strategy for the new year.

1. AI threats to increase

Generative AI has, without a doubt, been the biggest innovation to happen in 2023. And while it has brought massive benefits, the potential use of the technology in cybersecurity remains a major area of concern. The good news is defenders stand to benefit from the boom as much as the attackers.

So, while we expect to see an increase in sophisticated attacks fuelled by AI, we’ll also be seeing more tools leverage the technology for increased effectiveness in identifying and mitigating attacks.

1. Increased cases of hacktivism

Tensions between countries have never been higher. We have an ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and a potential collaboration between North Korea and Russia is budding. All these activities together with the upcoming elections in multiple major nations are going to trigger an increased case of state-sponsored cyber attacks.

The four nations to watch out for are Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China.

1. Ransomware

Ransomware is the one trend that you know will always be present in cybersecurity. We anticipate seeing more groups come up and with the continued rise in Ransomware-as-a-service, defenders will need to step up to stay ahead of the curve.

Phishing remains the top initial point of entry for ransomware groups and it’s something you will need to prioritize to avoid being the next headline.

Whether or not passwordless authentication will gain momentum in the coming years remains to be seen.

1. Regulatory scrutiny

In 2023 we have seen various executives including SolarWinds CISO come under scrutiny by regulators over their role in preventing attacks in their business. This is a trend that is going to continue over the next year and we expect it to change how businesses approach hiring and communication about their security posture.

Is it fair for the CISOs? Probably not. Security is a dynamic concept that usually transcends a single person in a business regardless of the position they hold.

1. The Emergence of Next-Gen Security Awareness Programs

Security awareness training is going to experience a revolution in 2024. Thanks to generative AI, traditional training will become obsolete.

New training programs will be launched that incorporate continuous breach and attack simulation (BAS) to test users' preparedness and provide real-time guidance to avoid falling victim to social engineering attacks.

Specialized tools will also focus on helping software developers learn secure coding practices to prevent vulnerabilities before they occur.