What does 2023 hold for cybersecurity?

What does 2023 hold for cybersecurity?

With 2023 just around the corner, we need to start thinking about what the cybersecurity landscape might look like so we can better prepare for emerging threats. Otherwise, we'll be blindsided by cyberattacks or breaches that can lead to significant financial losses, reputational damage, and hefty regulatory penalties.

While cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and nobody is 100% certain how things will pan out, IT experts predict that the following trends will take hold in the next 12 months.

Ransomware will remain a major threat

Ransomware attacks have been on the rise in recent years and this trend is expected to continue in 2023. This is because ransomware is a highly effective and profitable form of attack for cybercriminals.

In a ransomware attack, hackers encrypt a victim's data and demand payment in exchange for the decryption key. These attacks can be devastating for organizations, especially if they don't have adequate data backup and recovery solutions.

Related reading: How to protect your business from ransomware attacks

More supply chain attacks

Recently, we've seen a growing number of high-profile cyberattacks that exploit vulnerabilities in an organization's supply chain. Target and Equifax are just some of the companies that have suffered from such attacks.

Given the current global geopolitical environment, supply chain attacks are likely to become more damaging in 2023. We can expect more state-backed Russian hackers to attack critical infrastructure suppliers of Ukraine, NATO countries, and the United States.

To launch a supply chain attack, cybercriminals usually target suppliers with weak cyber defenses to gain access to the systems of these suppliers’ larger clients. Hackers may also implant malicious code in software or hardware components that are then delivered to their intended targets. Such is the case when Russians attacked SolarWinds, which involved the rollout of a software update that created a backdoor to the networks of multiple US government agencies.

Increasing cloud security investments

The continued prevalence of remote and hybrid work arrangements will drive businesses to migrate more of their workloads and data to the cloud. While cloud adoption brings a host of benefits, such as improved scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, it also creates new cybersecurity risks that need to be addressed.

In 2023, we can expect more companies to increase their investments in tools and strategies that bolster cloud security. In fact, cloud security is expected to be the main driver of the 11.3% growth in security spending in the next year.

Growing adoption of zero trust security architecture

In 2022, the White House mandated the adoption of zero trust security among the different agencies to more effectively prevent successful cyberattacks against the Federal Government's digital infrastructure.

Private organizations are expected to follow suit in 2023, especially with the continued adoption of remote and hybrid work setups wherein employees access company data and other IT resources from countless different sources and devices. These work setups make the traditional perimeter-based security model irrelevant since this model considers only users working within the office network as trusted. Users who are attempting access via the internet, virtual private networks, and remote sites are considered external to the organization, hence untrusted.

Related reading: Guidelines & tips for safely working remotely

The zero trust security model, in contrast, is identity-based, which means all users and devices are not trusted until authenticated in every access attempt. It also adopts the principle of least privilege by restricting what each user or device has access to. This reduces the risk of lateral movement within a network should a user account or device get compromised.

Rise of Cybersecurity-as-a-Service

Given the global cybersecurity skills shortage, we can expect more and more businesses to partner with managed security service providers (MSSPs) in 2023 instead of building their in-house security teams. This trend is already evident in the growth of the global MSSP industry, which is expected to hit $77.01 billion by 2030, up from $22.45 billion in 2020.

MSSPs have the staff, tools, and expertise needed. They can also help businesses comply with relevant cybersecurity regulations.

Need help improving your company’s cybersecurity? You can turn to the security experts of Fidelis . We offer comprehensive managed security solutions that can effectively defend against the latest cyberthreats. Get in touch with us today.


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