Cyber Threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general. Cyberattacks include threats like computer viruses, data breaches, and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.
In 2018, many organizations fell prey to cybersecurity disasters which led to millions of data and privacy of the users being compromised. Cyber Threats like these continue to possess serious threats to this very date. Going forward, even with the advancement in technology, organizations are going to encounter more sophisticated threats.
Let’s take a look at different types of Cyber Threats that businesses need to watch out for:
Cryptojacking: With the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies, this form of cyberattack is when the hacker hijacks the mobile phone, tablet, or connected home devices. The perpetrator uses a malicious link, or infects online ads that prompt you to click on them which then gets the virus into the victim’s device or system. This type of hacking is becoming popular as cybercriminals can make good money with minimal effort.
Blockchain Hacking: From carrying out financial transactions to storing data and intellectual-property protection, smart contracts is very crucial to all such applications. The smart contracts are termed to be the most promising use cases of blockchain technology, but are susceptible to bugs and hence are vulnerable to threats. The main problem with keeping smart contract data private is with the inbuilt transparency of the blockchain. Since hackers are well aware of this weakness, it will be a huge challenge for the companies who will use smart contracts for their operations.
Mobile Malware: This has to be the most leading target or cyber threat in the coming years. Cybercriminals are developing new hack systems to send malware into various devices by accessing them physically to spy and steal data stored in them. Avoiding download of files from unknown sources or links can prevent this from happening to a major extent. Another important firewall against such vulnerabilities is to update the OS of mobile devices whenever it is made available, Such updates have security patches and system upgrades to boost safety.
Hacking AI Defense: The same technology which protects can also be exploited using the same technology. A lot of organizations have realized the potential this technology brings but is also informed that hackers have discovered the ability to use it against its own defense mechanism. Therefore, a lot of cybersecurity firms have now begun implementing AI models that detect any threats. Even this, to some extent, has proven futile as hackers created more advanced methods to infiltrate and disarm these defenses. This too can be countered by deploying adversarial networks which involves using two neural networks contesting each other to discover the algorithm each is using. But, if the hackers can find out the data sets used to train AI models by modifying labels or injecting malicious codes. This would go undetected and hence would not be flagged as a threat.
