Main Cybersecurity Threats We Must Be Aware of in 2024
In 2024, cybercriminals are actively targeting businesses across the board.
There are synchronous streams of development at all times – technological advancement and cybercrime. Cynically, dramatic and unprecedented technological development can't occur without a concomitant increase in cybersecurity threats.
The rationale behind this has less to do with the quality of technological advancement than with the heterogeneous nature of cybersecurity threat readiness among small and medium-sized enterprises. A significant number of cyber threats emanate from faulty source code in software. Given the rapid growth of high-tech, what is cutting-edge today may become obsolete tomorrow.
Maintaining ironclad security control with open-ended systems with varying levels of innovation, adaptation, compliance, and compatibility is impossible.
As a case in point, Embroker.com analysts foresee cybercrime activity spiking to unprecedented levels. They estimate a figure of $24 trillion in expected cybercrime costs by 2027. And it is mainly due to the inadequacies in threat prevention, mitigation, and elimination that personal and business cybercrime is on the rise.
In 2024, cybercriminals are actively targeting businesses across the board. This is true of sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and enterprise-level companies.
The most significant risks for cybercrime activity are Series C start-ups (72% expectation of a cybercrime attack), compared to just 40% for pre-seed and seed start-ups. Regardless, criminal activity knows no bounds, and bad actors are prepared to sow the seeds of disruption, loss of credibility, and financial ruination to companies everywhere.
Static Source Code Analysis Threats in 2024
In 2024, companies are relying on Static Source Code Analysis (SAST) to identify vulnerabilities in the source code of applications. Static Source Code Security Analysis of the app’s source code is imperative before deployment. Unfortunately, many businesses rely on poorly configured SAST tools. This can lead to a false sense of security. Complacency is not an option with the advances in criminal sophistication.
Many static analysis tools have shortcomings that simply fail the litmus test. For example, coding methods, frameworks, and programming languages may be outdated. SAST tools must keep pace with the times to remain relevant. Criminals always wait in the wings to launch attacks at weak points in the system architecture. SAST must be fully integrated into the software development life-cycle to be effective. This eliminates gaps and prevents data breaches.
Third-Party Exposure Threats in 2024
In 2024, AT&T publicly addressed a massive third-party breach that took place. Ostensibly, some 70 million AT&T customers were exposed, including their username/password information, text information, and call data. Such is the nature of third-party exposure risk, whereby cybercriminals target less protected elements of networks and wreak destruction on them. These dangerous attacks will continue in 2024 since third parties are much more susceptible to attack than the major corporations that companies work with. Statistics from the Check Point Software Cyber Security Report from 2021 indicated that three-quarters of cyberattacks perpetrated in 2020 targeted weaknesses which were discovered in 2018 but never addressed.
Configuration Threats in 2024
Many professionally designed security systems are error-laden. Or at the very least, contain an error that can be exploited for ill effect. Small errors can lead to outsized vulnerabilities. These present poorly for the overall health and wellness of the system’s architecture.
Censys issued a report in 2023 indicating that upwards of 8,000 servers contained vulnerabilities owing to configuration errors. This remains a hot topic in 2024 and is cause for alarm. Configuration threats include seemingly benign issues, such as weak passwords, or highly complex issues, such as ineffective firewalls.
Cyberattacks are possible because systems do not follow guidance with respect to security awareness. These include software updates, network segmentation, weak passwords used by high-level executives, IoT access for many devices to sensitive network information, etc.
Social Engineering Threats in 2024
This hacking technique is nefarious. Criminals use it because it focuses on human error, and not technical weakness. It's much easier to deceive a human being than it is to intercept the security systems of a company.
A report generated by Verizon (2023 Data Breach Investigations) discovered that human interaction accounted for 74% of all data breaches. Additionally, email accounted for between 75% – 91% of all targeted cyber security attacks. Several types of social engineering threats exist, notably whaling, baiting, spoofing, and phishing. In all cases, deception is used to trick the individual into opening a Pandora's box of threats.
These are a handful of the security challenges plaguing company servers, networks, and operations in 2024. Fortunately, it’s possible to head them off at the pass, before they have an opportunity to deploy. Stay vigilant. Stay updated.
