Every Technology is under Attack

Technology is evolving at a very fast speed, at the same time, the cyber criminals' tools and techniques are always evolving and maintaining the security of a network with users, who each want to do their own thing without being restricted by security, is a constant challenge. Cybersecurity threats are multi-fold in the interconnected world.

Remote work becomes the soft target for hackers. For many businesses, hybrid and remote working has become the norm in recent years and organisations have shifted towards cloud-based applications and services to enable this. Malicious actors are intensifying attacks on critical cloud infrastructure with new, sophisticated approaches.

But while this shift has been effective for productivity and improving employee happiness, hybrid working also comes with additional cybersecurity risks that organisations might not be thinking about -- and that's making life easier for cyber criminals.

Cloud migration takes such threats to the next level because sometimes it is not a well-thought move. However, when it comes to individual targets, phishing attacks continue to emerge with much more sophistication and advancement. Nowadays, simple tricks used earlier in phishing are replaced with highly customized, genuine-looking targeted attacks.

Phishing Gets More Sophisticated — Phishing attacks, in which carefully targeted digital messages are transmitted to fool people into clicking on a link that can then install malware or expose sensitive data, are becoming more sophisticated.

The biggest, most damaging and most widespread threat facing small businesses are phishing attacks. Phishing accounts for 90% of all breaches that organizations face, they've grown 65% over the last year, and they account for over $12 billion in business losses.

Sometimes, even the professionals working in security/law enforcement, etc. get duped by such attacks. Population scale percolation of UPI and innocence of users lead to unfortunate events of siphoning out their hard-earned money. On the other hand, for business houses, small or large, the primary threat of ransomware continues to emerge further along with data theft.

Every technology you name is under the attack. A connected world offers new opportunities for cybercriminals to gather personal information that can be used for fraudulent transactions or for ransomware—malicious software that can immobilize devices or encrypt data and demand money in return for a decryption key.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA