Information Security Forum Forecasts 2021 Global Security Threat Outlook

NEW YORK - Dec. 9, 2020 - PRLog -- In an effort to support global organizations in navigating today's rapidly changing threat landscape, the Information Security Forum (ISF) has announced the organization's outlook for the top global security threats that businesses will face in 2021. The top threats identified by the ISF are not mutually exclusive and can combine to create even greater threat profiles. The most prevalent threats include:

Cybercrime: Malware, ID Theft, Ransomware and Network Attacks

We have seen an increase in cybercrime targeting the COVID-19 "opportunity".  Not restricted to ransomware attacks on hospitals, this has also seen targeting of remote workers who are accessing corporate systems. Setting up fraudulent charities, fraudulent loans, extortion along with an increase in traditional phishing and malware are all on the increase. The changing threat landscape requires risk management and security practitioners to pay close attention to how exposures change over the coming months and the circumstances that influence the level of protection.

Insider Threats are Real

The insider threat is one of the greatest drivers of security risks that organizations face as a malicious insider utilizes credentials to gain access to a given organization's critical assets. Many organizations are challenged to detect internal nefarious acts, often due to limited access controls and the ability to detect unusual activity once someone is already inside their network. The threat from malicious insider activity is an increasing concern and will continue to be so in 2021.

The Digital Generation Becomes the Scammer's Dream

The next generation of employees will enter the workplace, introducing new information security concerns to organizations. Their attitudes toward sharing information will fall short of the requirements for good information security. Reckless attitudes to sharing information online will set new norms for security and privacy, undermining awareness activities; attackers will use sophisticated social engineering techniques to manipulate individuals into giving up their employer's critical information assets.

Edge Computing Pushes Security to the Brink

Edge computing will be an attractive architectural choice for organizations; however, it will also become a key target for attackers. It will create numerous points of failure and will lose many benefits of traditional security solutions. Organizations will lose the visibility, security and analysis capabilities associated with cloud service providers; attackers will exploit blind spots, targeting devices on the periphery of the network environment, causing significant downtime.

Rushed Digital Transformations Destroy Trust

Organizations will undertake evermore complex digital transformations, expecting them to seamlessly integrate with underlying systems. Those that get it wrong will have their data compromised. Consumers and dependent supply chains will lose trust in organizations that do not integrate systems and services effectively; new vulnerabilities and attack vectors will be introduced, attracting opportunistic attackers.

ISF Threat Horizon Reports

Each year, the ISF releases their latest ISF Threat Horizon series of reports. For more information, please visit the ISF website (https://www.securityforum.org/).