In recent times, Cybersecurity has emerged as a major issue for businesses, big or small, governments, and multinational corporations. It is an evolving body of knowledge that helps organizations protect their data from cyber-attacks.
A business’ cybersecurity strategy should not just consist of focusing on the technological aspects, but also at the psychological implications. Understanding how humans behave can help businesses understand hackers and develop better strategies and tools to defend against them. That is where cyberpsychology comes in.
Cyberpsychology is a relatively new field that studies the effect of technology on humans and how they behave in relation or because of it. We spend majority of our time every day on digital platforms, chatting or browsing.
It is critical to understand the effects technology use has on us and how it changes us. As of right now, cyberpsychology is an emerging field, but it has potential toward facilitating our understanding of what makes humans tick and how malicious actors, especially hackers behave online.
Reaching these understandings will help companies develop better security measures to defend against attacks. For those interested in pursuing a career in cyberpsychology, there are a quite a few universities that provide a degree in cybersecurity and cyberpsychology.
One of the best universities that offers this program is Norfolk State University. They offer an online MS Cyberpsychology program, which can prove to be convenient for those who want to pursue studies along with carrying out their responsibilities at work. With that said, let’s discuss the upcoming cybersecurity trends in 2022.
Cybersecurity trends in 2022
Moving into 2022, cyber security professionals have their work cut out for them in terms of coming up with ways to prevent cybercrime and theft of sensitive data. Current strategies are in need of reassessment because of the evolving and extremely sophisticated nature of cyber-attacks.
Heading into 2022, it can be said with absolute certainty that online security concerns will only increase, both in volume, variety, and veracity. Based on current research, let’s take a look at some of the top cybersecurity trends for 2022.
The Zero-Trust Approach: Traditional cybersecurity parameters have generally focused on keeping threats out. Known as the “Castle and Moat” model, this approach assumes that any individual that has the required user credentials has obtained them through “legitimate” means.
However, as more and more companies move their data to a cloud-based system, this approach is quickly becoming obsolete. As a direct result, companies will need to shift their focus to a “zero-trust” approach which assumes that threat can come from anyone and any direction. Working on that assumption, it will limit access to authorized personnel only.
The Evolution of Ransom ware: Small businesses have generally been the target of Ransom ware as a Service (RaaS) attack. It is ever-evolving and is routinely used by hackers to cripple software, steal data, manipulate information, and only release it upon extorting payments.
Hackers will continue to use this approach to target “low-hanging fruits.” However, the price for returning stolen data will likely drop because of cyber-protection and awareness programs.
Businesses will likely move towards protection-of-date strategies including choosing their vendors carefully and implementing preventive security measures. That said, the digital supply chain will become increasingly vital (because of Covid) and, resultantly, also become vulnerable to risks of cyber-attacks.
Social engineering tactics are going to continue to be used predominantly by hackers until companies come up with a proper cybersecurity program and improve their employees’ online behavior.
The Rise of Sophisticated Phishing Attacks: The “Deep Fake” technology has been a new addition in the hackers’ toolbox in helping them carryout phishing attacks. This technology can be used to create fake, but highly realistic, chats, emails, videos, employee IDs, and even security credentials. Highly sophisticated and difficult to detect, these phishing attacks will likely increase in volume throughout 2022.
The Bottoms-up Approach: Current cybersecurity structure relies on a “chain of trust.” Basically, it means that each individual link in a networking architecture is used to validate both its predecessor and successor link.
The goal is to monitor for any discrepancies and eradicate them before they can take root. The chain begins at the hardware level and goes all the way up to the software level. However, frequent cyber-attacks have shown that focusing on the software component (the top-down approach) is insufficient.
This means that companies will need to shift focus to a more comprehensive, bottoms-up approach that also includes the hardware component while designing safety protocols.
Newer technologies will likely work toward this goal with renewed haste and vigor. Acting as an additional layer of safety, hardware can be secured at the chip level, making illegal penetration by hackers extremely difficult and more risky.
Data Protection Strategies with Third-Party Vendors: Cyber-attacks through third-party vendors increase with each passing year. The problem is reliance on third-party vendors has also increased despite these attacks. Therefore, companies will move toward the assessment of top-tier vendors, their safety scores/credentials, their network access, procedures, and online interactions.
AI and Machine Learning: Cybercriminals are determined in using whatever little weakness they can find in a networking system for exploitation. But there is hope with the rise of AI and the impressive machine learning tools it can provide to combat cybercriminals.
AI has the ability to make a system and its data impregnable with “always-on” monitoring. AI-based learnings, such as machine learning, have the ability to create sophisticated reports complete with minute-to-minute monitoring and validation of all security credentials in a network.
It can also take it a step further and generate alerts and start preventive measures as soon as a security breach is detected.
Thomas Jackson is a dynamic and talented content writer at WonderWorldSpace.com, renowned for his engaging and informative articles. Beyond his professional pursuits in writing, Jack is also known for his deep passion for fitness, which not only shapes his lifestyle but also influences his work.