The world wide web has made the world a smaller place and facilitated personal and commercial transactions.

Our digital footprints have increased phenomenally, as has our vulnerability to cyber-attacks also increased exponentially. Online privacy and security have become the need of the hour for individuals and corporations around the world.

Some of the most significant cyberattacks between 2018 and 2021 include the following:

• About two million cyber-attacks were causing a worldwide loss of $45 billion.
• More than a thousand education institutes have been victimized by ransomware since 2019.

The 2020 pandemic saw an exponential increase in ransomware attacks across industries like hospitality, insurance, technology, software, and even social media platforms like Twitter.

We have witnessed at least $102.3 ransomware transactions in this year (2021) itself.

No doubt, organizations are inclined towards security consultation now more than ever.

Top 8 emerging trends of cyber security

1. Cloud Services Security

Most organizations around the world have adopted cloud-based computing services. This facilitates access to data, software applications, among many other types of information by the employees.

The systems have to be configured meticulously to protect themselves from cyberattacks which could make the attackers access classified and sensitive information.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The increasing threat of cyber attacks is making most organizations incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to enhance the security of their entire infrastructure.

It has proved to be effective in developing:

• automated security systems,
• face detection,
• natural language processing, and
• automatic threat detection.

You can analyze large volumes of risk data with excellent speed. Advanced developments in this space will make the systems more capable of withstanding dangerous threats.

Machine learning aids cybersecurity to understand cybercriminals’ behavioral patterns and will be able to protect the organization from attacks.

3. Mobile Security

Hybrid offices and remote work are here to stay.

Employees tend to switch between devices, use public Wi-Fi services which makes their devices vulnerable to cyber threats. Professionals in cybersecurity are working on a model whereby it becomes possible to combine hardware-based security with mobile software security and strengthen the storage of sensitive data.

4. Employee Factor

An organization’s staff is the most vulnerable to phishing scams.

Therefore, educating employees is imperative as it will give them insight into identifying network attacks which the IT specialists can then prevent.

Besides, you must train employees on how sensitive corporate information needs to be shared.

5. Multi-factor authentication process

Though this has proved to be quite effective, there have been infinite cyber threats to make a breakthrough.

However, attempts are being made at more sophisticated authentication systems to protect individuals, especially since online banking has become a convenient activity for all.

Therefore, we are sure to witness Banks and other financial institutes resort to application-based MFA, e.g., Google Authenticator, among many others, to fight these types of threats.

6. Need for highly skilled cybersecurity professionals

Cryptocurrencies have increased the volume of ransomware attacks. Once the attackers access and encrypt the data of their targets, they demand a ransom. The success rate of such attacks is high as the modes of payments are untraceable.

7. Computational practices with enhanced privacy

We will have to incorporate technologies to protect data while it is being used.

1. The most important would be building a highly trusted ambiance where the data will be analyzed or processed in a decentralized way.
2. We will also have to ensure that the algorithms and data will be encrypted before being processed.

These practices will help enterprises collaborate with competition while maintaining complete privacy and without a breach of confidence.

8. Distributed cloud

It means that we will distribute cloud services across various physical locales but the governance and operation will be the responsibility of the public cloud provider.

The final argument

In a technology-dominated world, cyber security plays a crucial role in safeguarding relevant information regarding organizations and employees’ personal data. Therefore, governments must incorporate the most superior cyber security systems, industrial plants, and banking institutions.

It is high time we wake up and take appropriate measures in the larger interests of all.