Intelligent CIO Kuwait Issue 2 | Page 17

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// “ WHILE WE EXPECT THE UNDERGROUND MARKET COLLABORATION TO CONTINUE, THE YEAR 2019 WILL ALSO SEE CYBERSECURITY ALLIANCES OF DEFENDERS CONTINUING TO MATURE AND FURTHER FORTIFY DEFENCES. www.intelligentcio.com V endors from across the cybersecurity sector have revealed their 2019 threat predictions in a bid to help IT leaders make informed decisions this year. One such example is the McAfee Labs 2019 Threats Predictions Report, which identifies rising trends and how they are predicted to change the cyberthreat landscape in 2019. McAfee researchers expect malware-as-a- service families to strengthen, energising the market for attack outsourcing and the evolution of increasingly innovative and agile attack methods. As a result, corporate data, home IoT devices and brand reputations will be under siege, with cybercriminals largely using social media, the cloud and mobile phones as increasingly prominent attack vectors. Predictions • Underground cybercriminals to consolidate and collaborate through stronger partnerships • Prevalence of attack outsourcing will lead to use of Artificial Intelligence in evasion tactics • Bad actors will combine multiple attack types to create synergistic super threats • Cybercriminals to use bots, negative social media campaigns to extort brands • Significant increase expected in data exfiltration attempts from the cloud • Digital assistants to become the next vector for home IoT attacks • Data-rich social media platforms will continue to be popular attack targets “In 2018, we witnessed even greater collaboration among cybercriminals through underground alliances,” said Raj Samani, Chief Scientist at McAfee. “This collaborative mentality has allowed for efficiencies in underground technologies and tactics, and the evolution of bad actors into some of the most organised and agile adversaries in the world. “However, while we expect the underground market collaboration to continue, the year 2019 will also see cybersecurity alliances of defenders continuing to mature and further fortify defences.” The report reflects the informed opinions of thought leaders from McAfee Labs, McAfee Advanced Threat Research and members of McAfee’s Office of the CTO. It examines current trends in cybercrime and the evolution of IT, and anticipates what the future may hold for organisations, consumers and those working to protect them. INTELLIGENTCIO 17