Page 242 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Annual RSA Edition for 2024

To ensure you’re properly prepared, below are the top emerging cyber threats that experts anticipate will
pose greater risks to businesses in the year ahead.

Human Error

Believe it or not, nearly three quarters of all data breaches involve the element of human error, according
to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). From social engineering to technical
errors, improperly trained staff are vulnerable to a number of common cybercriminal tactics.

Particularly, over the last year, the number of professionals that fell victim to a new, sophisticated
breaching method called Pretexting increased two-fold. Pretexting is a type of social engineering method
in which the cybercriminal creates a deceptive scenario for the purpose of increasing the success rate of
an eventual phishing attempt to gain access to protected information and systems.

One common method employed by Pretexters is impersonation. Criminals conduct virtual and in person
impersonations to build a relationship with a member of the workforce and lay the groundwork for an
eventual cyberattack. These incidents have become so popular that they now account for over 50% of
all social engineering incidents.

So, how do you mitigate these risks? One word: training! Emphasize regular training for your entire
workforce on how to spot and report these attacks before they become costly security failures.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a term that many are already familiar with, and that’s because it poses a consistent risk
to organizations. Ransomware was present is about 24% of all cyberattacks and 90% of the industries
listed it in the top three types of incidents they have experienced in the past year, according to the 2023
DBIR.

Further reinforcing that it’s here to stay, ransomware remains the choice method of criminality for bad
actors, especially those that are apart of crime groups. That same study found that 62% of all incidents
that involved organized crime included deploying ransomware as part of the attack.

Information System Misconfiguration

Do you have vulnerabilities in your information systems? Now is a good time to find out, because the
2023 DBIR found that exploitable vulnerabilities caused 21% of the error-related breaches last year
alone.

These breaches typically stem from failures on behalf of organization developers and system
administrators, due to the sensitivity of these roles, responsibilities for maintaining systems, and access
to information.

242