A Review of Cybersecurity Trends in the Year 2022

As 2022 draws to a close, it is the right time to reflect back on the major cyber security trends that dominated the year.?As the world transforms digitally, cyber-attacks have increased exponentially and at an alarming rate. Cyber security measures and their importance continue to gain attention from governments, business organizations and individuals from all across the globe.?

So, what are the cybersecurity events that defined 2022? Read on to find out.

Russia-Ukraine Cyber warfare

The cyber warfare between Russia and Ukraine began even before Russia’s invasion in February 2022. It continued to create buzz among the world governments, authorities and cyber security community about the possible cyber threats that could cross beyond the boundaries of two countries.

Experts believe that two prominent attack methods were employed by both Russia and Ukraine. One was data breaches with the aim of leaking private and sensitive data online and disrupting operations. The other was carrying out DDoS attacks to disrupt networks and systems.?

Do these cyber security developments of 2022 give a glimpse into how future wars will be fought? Only time will tell.

Ransomware

Ransomware became one of the most popular and successful methods employed by cybercriminals to conduct cyber attacks on their target in 2022. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the volume of ransomware attacks increased this year and they have become much more advanced.?

Recent reports suggest that there has been an exponential rise in the number of people buying and selling Ransomware-as-a-Service in 2022 illegally through the dark web. Security professionals definitely have a major challenge in the upcoming years to combat the growing number of sophisticated ransomware attacks.

Data Breaches

Most numbers of data breaches happened in 2022 and they continue to pose a major threat to businesses and individuals. According to a report from InfoSecurity Magazine, a staggering 70% increase was observed in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same in 2021. The data breaches were not limited to small businesses but it impacted many leading business organizations, which is indeed a matter of concern.

Medibank Data Breach and LAUSD Data Breach are a few examples while Uber and Twitter data breaches are well-known among common citizens.?

An IBM report revealed that the average cost of a data breach per company across the world stood at 4.4 million dollars in 2022.

Attack Surface Expansion

Cyber attack incidents have increased since the pandemic. The changing work culture that includes work from home, work from anywhere and other hybrid possibilities have opened up opportunities for cybercriminals. Plus, the dependence on new technology systems such as cloud storage makes businesses more vulnerable to threats. The expanded attack surface gives multiple entry points for threat actors to gain unauthorised access to systems and steal data.

Deep Fakes

With the advancement and progression of technology, the quality of deep fakes in 2022 has increased dramatically. It is terrifying and at the same time scary to imagine that deep fakes can be made with few good pictures and audio clips. Deep fakes in social media platforms are convincingly close to the original and the ways they can be used by threat actors cannot be ascertained.

Without technology, it is impossible to assess the authenticity of any video or clip.

Cybersecurity Insurance

Cyber security incidents often lead to devastating consequences such as huge financial losses and a questionable brand image for business organizations. Therefore, business leaders are increasingly dependent on cyber insurance to mitigate risks and assure business continuity and resilience. As a result, cybersecurity insurance is fast growing in 2022 and it is predicted that it will continue to increase.

Cyber Fatigue and Social Engineering

Social engineering has always been one of the top methods of data breaches. However, it has adapted and evolved and reached new heights in 2022. Despite security measures such as two-factor authentication and multi-factor authentication, attackers are using cyber fatigue to gain access to systems and networks.?

These are the top cybersecurity trends in the year 2022, according to us.

What do you think defined the cybersecurity industry this year? Share your thoughts below!