Like with previous years, 2018 has brought a whole new line of IT threats that you need to consider. We are going to explore some of the new threats of 2018 that have come out. The first step to countering them is being aware of what the threats are.
Database Breaches
More and more attacks are have been and are going to continue to be breached. Cyber attacks, like that on Equifax, are going to become far more common place. The need to watch our personal information and our account information on all of the websites that we sign up for is going to increase even more.
Some IT service professionals predict that companies that store information such as browsing habits or shopping habits might become an even more popular target.
Software Update Hacks
In 2017 we already saw a large increase in hackers injecting malware into software updates in order to penetrate systems. The number of attacks in 2017 was around about 200% higher than 2016 according to Symantec. This number is likely to grow even higher.
Injection of viruses into software updates is an easy way to target secure networks. Once a company starts updating their computers with the infected software update, hackers will start to gain access to everything that they have.
Moving Ransomware To The Cloud
With how many ransomware attacks we saw on hard drives, many people started to move their information to private cloud storage. This makes it imperative to chose a cloud hosting provider that offers secure cloud storage. Large companies and government agencies were both targets of ransomware last year.
What the news didn’t cover was the amount of people who were individual victims. Around the world thousands of people were targets of attempts to hold their hard drive hostage.
In the previous year we also noticed another important shift in ransom where that has been secured so far this year. Less hackers are charging extravagant sums in order to get your computer back. In fact, their average ransom has dropped significantly. The idea behind it is that if you hack more computers and make it easier to pay, your profit can continue.
Cyber-Physical Attacks
We have seen it in the movies but experts believe that we may see at least attempts by hackers to target cyber systems that control physical technology. An example of this would be targeting traffic control systems or water control systems. More remote targets could include the control systems for dams.
Bitcoin Targeting
In recent months, we have already seen some targeting of Bitcoin as ransom from ransomware. Some hackers have also been known to go after the holders of cryptocurrency if they discover someone possesses it. But in the rest of 2018 and in 2019 more targeted attacks will be directed towards those who have bitcoin.
Attacks won’t just be targeted at the individual either. They will be targeted at companies/groups that mine cryptocurrencies.
Neither of these are the only ways that hackers will go after cryptocurrency. If a hacker were to steal a small amount of processing power from a lot of computers, they could create their own mining network. They wouldn’t even have to access your personal information to make money. Just steal some of your processing time.
Election Targeting
Around the world elections are being held every year. Sometimes more often than that. We saw hacking in elections in America’s past and we thing that is only a sign of what is to come. With election centers already attempting to harden their systems against cyber attack, experts aren’t the only ones that believe this.
Individual hackers and state powers alike could benefit from manipulating elections. You can move into power someone who is friendly towards your causes. The only way that we are going to make our elections a non-target for cyber threats is to have elections conducted all off the internet.
Threats are all around us when we are browsing the internet, downloading software, or even installing an app on our phones. From hackers to data miners, it is important that we take steps to protect ourselves. Knowing these top threats and how they are growing is an important step to understanding how to combat them.
Netdigix is a leading IT company in the Metro Vancouver area focusing on IT managed services, IT procurement, cloud hosting and IT consulting. Check out the Netdigix blog for the latest news in Information Technology.
