Top Cybersecurity Threats for Every Business in 2022

As the world is advancing technologically, cybersecurity threats are also becoming a serious concern. Cyber-related crime is projected to cost companies across the globe $10.5 trillion annually by 2025 compared to $3 trillion in 2015. On top of that, the COVID-19 pandemic has just worsened the whole scenario. The practice of remote working and more digital processes have triggered more cybercrimes and cyber threats. As per the Tanium report, 90% of organizations have witnessed a rise in cybercrime activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since cybersecurity threats are not going away anytime soon, let's discuss the top 5 cyber threats that are a concern for every business in 2022 and upcoming years.

Top 5 Cyber Threats in 2022

There is a long list of cyber security threats that are emerging in this digitally advanced era. However, we have narrowed down the list to the top 5 cyber threats that are concerning for businesses:

1.      Cryptojacking

Cryptojacking is an emerging cyber threat where attackers secretly use the victim's device (computer, server, or any other device) to mine cryptocurrencies. The cyber-attackers manage to install cryptojacking software into the victim's device via tricking the victim to open a malicious attachment/link in the email or visit a malicious website or online ad. Once the software is installed, they can then use the computing power of the device to mine cryptocurrencies in the background.

As per Malwarebytes, they witnessed a 4000% rise in the detection of Android-based cryptojacking malware through the 2018 first quarter. Considering the world's attention around cryptocurrencies, the scale and potential of cryptojacking are expected to become a lot more intense in the coming years.

2.      Ransomware

Ransomware remains the worst nightmare for businesses, especially government and large-scale organizations. Ransomware is malware that encrypts a victim's device data via penetrating into the device by tricking the victim to download malicious attachments or visit a weblink sent mostly by email. Once the data is encrypted, the attackers ask for ransom fees in exchange for the decryption key.

Back in 2020, ransomware attacks alone cost the world more than $1 billion. Although some are claiming that ransomware attacks are declining, but Kaseya and Colonial Pipeline attacks are telling the opposite story. In fact, ransomware attacks have become a lot stronger, aiming for big valuable targets now. Therefore, ransomware is still going strong and remains a concerning cyber threat for businesses and organizations across the globe.

3.      DDoS Attack

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack sends a flood of requests to the targeted web resource in order to exceed the website handling capacity and make it function incorrectly. With digital advancements, DDoS attacks are turning more complex, while the tools to launch such attacks are becoming easy to use.

As per statistics, there has been a 55% increase in DDoS attacks from January 2020 to March 2021. The technology sector has been the favorite target of attackers. Considering the rapid digitalization and tech advancements, DDoS is going to become a struggling cybersecurity threat to deal with for businesses in the coming years.

4.      Cloud Computing Threats

Cloud adoption has become a global trend owing to tons of advantages associated with cloud storage and cloud computing. But the lack of cloud security has triggered many cloud computing threats. Some of the leading cloud computing threats include:

• Access Management: When business crucial data is on the cloud, it can be accessed easily by a person who holds the login credentials. When many employees have access to business crucial data and there is a lack of strict access management control, then attackers can easily exploit it to hijack accounts and access the data.
• Data Breaches & Data Leaks: The chances of data breaches and data leaks increase with cloud computing compared to on-premises computing. It is because a lot of data flows between employees and the cloud, thereby it's easier for attackers to intercept the data.
• Misconfigurations: Since most business owners are not experienced with cloud-based infrastructure, misconfigurations are resulting in more data breaches and data loss scenarios.

The Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report highlights that 39% of all breaches are occurring in web applications. Since cloud spendings are growing exponentially, so the cloud computing-related cybersecurity threats are just going to get bigger with every passing year.

5.      Insider Threats

Both malicious and negligent insiders are becoming a concerning issue for businesses. Insider threats can be triggered by a former or present employee, business associates, contractors, or similar other parties. Since such parties have either access to sensitive data or know about security protocols, so they can be a source of insider threats.

Every year, over 34% of businesses are affected by insider threats. Moreover, with the practice of remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic, untrained employees, and digital transformations, insider threats have become a real threat to deal with.

Conclusion

Over time, the techniques, tactics, and procedures of cybercriminals have become a lot more sophisticated, thereby it is becoming a big challenge for organizations to detect and defend them. The hard truth is that the upcoming years are projected to be a lot more challenging in terms of dealing with cyber security threats.

We would end the blog by saying that try your best to ensure top-notch, up-to-date cybersecurity measures to minimize becoming a victim of ever-growing cyber threats.

Contact the CARE Support to know more about protecting your business from IT threats !