Cyber threats in 2024: Is your organization prepared?

Technology continues its unstoppable evolution, posing new challenges for cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are taking advantage of the latest technologies to attack organizations.

In this installment of Enterprise Cyber Resilience, we bring you the most important cybersecurity trends for 2024. We will see how AI, mobile devices, and cyberspace are becoming new security threats to organizations.

We will also provide practical advice on how organizations can prepare for these threats.

AI in cybersecurity: a double-edged sword

AI has revolutionized cybersecurity, enabling organizations to detect and respond to threats faster and more efficiently. However, this revolution has also led to the emergence of AI-powered cyber threats, giving them a greater ability to adapt on the fly and evade defenses.

In 2024, we will see changes in the way these technologies are used for both offensive and defensive activities.

On the defensive side, organizations will need to invest in mechanisms not only for protection, but also for prevention against AI-powered cyber threats. These defenses may include technologies such as AI-based threat detection, automated incident response, and predictive analytics.

On the offensive side, cybercriminals will use AI to create more sophisticated attacks that are harder to detect. These attacks may include the use of generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create realistic fake identities for social engineering attacks. They can also be leveraged for the development of AI-powered malware capable of mutating to avoid detection, as well as the use of chatbots and generative AI tools to enhance creative automation methods, such as spear-phishing.

These advances will expand the scope of cyber espionage and sophisticated cybercrime. Therefore, the protection of personal and corporate devices will become increasingly vital.

Sophisticated cyber threats to mobile, wearable, and smart devices

Advanced persistent threat (APT) developers are incorporating new creative exploits for mobile and IoT devices. These exploits are techniques or pieces of software that take advantage of vulnerabilities to spy on victims or to steal sensitive data.

APT perpetrators are expanding their espionage efforts and using stealth infiltration tactics, including methods such as delivering silent exploits, such as zero-click attacks. They are also using more AI tools to enhance creative automation methods, such as spear-phishing.

Cyberspace, a new battlefield

Cyberespionage and hacktivism are also on the rise in the field of geopolitical conflicts.

State-sponsored cybercriminal groups are using cyberspace to spy, steal data, and sabotage critical infrastructure. These attacks are spreading to media outlets and organizations around the world.

Hacktivists are also using cyberspace to support their political causes. They may carry out real attacks or make false hacking claims to cause confusion and misinformation.

As geopolitical tensions continue, we are likely to see an increase in both types of threats.

Generative AI: A new front in cybercrime

In 2024, we expect to see an increase in AI-based attacks, especially those using Generative AI (GenAI). Cybercriminals will use GenAI to create hyper-realistic audiovisual content that is difficult to detect, which could lead to an increase in phishing and other types of fraud.

In addition, cybercriminals could also target other AI models, especially those based in the cloud. These attacks would have serious consequences, such as data breaches or disruption of critical systems.

To address these challenges, the cybersecurity industry must take steps to develop policies and regulations specific to the use of AI. They must also refine current security controls to overcome human limitations.

Seamless cyber defense: the enterprise security trifecta for 2024

Organizations must take a holistic approach to cybersecurity to protect against the threats that are coming in 2024, based on the following pillars:

Keep systems up to date: organizations must ensure that their operating systems, applications, and software are up to date with the latest security fixes. This will help protect them from known vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.

Train staff: employees are any organization’s first line of defense against cyber threats. Employees need to be trained to identify threats and know the lines of action and reporting.

Implement cybersecurity solutions according to needs: organizations should implement cybersecurity solutions according to their specific needs. This may include perimeter security, information security, mobile security, and cloud security solutions.

By adopting these recommendations, businesses can help protect their data and systems from the cybersecurity threats looming in 2024.

We hope this information is useful. We will be happy to provide you with more details on how to protect your company from emerging cyber threats in 2024. We invite you to contact us or visit our website.