3 Biggest Cyber Threats of 2020

Before you begin researching the best internet security suites for 2020, you should first understand what you need to protect yourself from. Hackers come up with new attacks all the time, and the threats become more sophisticated. A human won’t detect most of them without the help of antivirus – even obvious phishing became much more advanced and harder to spot.

In this article, we will take a look at the cyber threats you should beware of in 2020. Hackers will use these approaches more frequently this year as statistics, and common logic suggests. Knowing possible dangers, you will be more mindful when choosing the antivirus and browsing the Internet. Therefore, you will supply yourself with better protection.

Spear Phishing

Most of us know what phishing is – it’s an attack that lures users into visiting infected or malicious websites or straight up downloading viruses, malware, spyware, and other kinds of harmful software. Another goal malefactors chase using phishing is to trick users into sending money or telling some sensitive information. Such fraudulent messages, emails, and websites look quite suspicious, and most modern users became quite good at detecting phishing.

Yet, this is a widely-used practice. Stats show that one out of 99 emails is fraudulent. It might seem insignificant until you realize that’s only emails. The statistics don’t include texts, posts, and messages in social media, and other mediums hackers use to deliver false information. Even 1 out of 99 emails makes quite a number if you think of a company where at least 20 employees work.

The situation becomes even more serious if we talk about spear phishing – a more advanced phishing technique. This approach involves some data about the user hackers utilize to make the fraudulent message look more personalized and, therefore, realistic. We live in a world of big data, and there is a lot of information about each of us on social media. And hackers can get even more into e-commerce websites and other platforms. 

Advanced antiviruses can detect most cases of phishing. Yet, you should be cautious and think twice before clicking links, entering your personal data, and paying for things online. 

Internet of Things

IoT is created by all the smart devices that have access to the Internet. And their number increases constantly. Today it’s not just your computer, smartphone, and tablet that can connect to the WiFi network. We have smart fridges, vacuum cleaners, assistants, kettles – you name it. Soon everything in our homes will have access to the Internet and, therefore, become a target for hackers.

Practice shows that smart devices are still very vulnerable to hacker attacks. There are no definite regulations yet when it comes to the security of such gadgets, so you have to take responsibility for their and your safety. That’s why you need software that protects the whole network and keeps smart devices updated.

Ransomware Attacks

Businesses began suffering more from ransomware than private users. This kind of attack gets the system infected, and the malware encrypts the data. The only choice a hacker leaves a victim with is to pay the ransom. Otherwise, the data will be lost.

Most advanced antiviruses will protect you from ransomware. But you should have your risks planned, too. Think of ways to recover if your business loses the data, and keep sensitive information in a reliable place – preferably, some secure cloud storage. 

Human Mistakes

Unfortunately, the greater part of all data leaks happens due to a simple human error – especially when it comes to businesses. An employee had a weak password for their work account, or maybe they accidentally leaked their access information somewhere. Perhaps, they caught some malware onto their work device or accessed corporate information from an infected personal gadget. Either way, a person creates a vulnerability that causes a data leak.

The mistake sometimes is quite conscious – when an employee abuses their rights and gives someone access to sensitive corporate information. But in the end, the intentions of the person don’t matter. Whether they compromised the privacy of the company by mistake or knowingly, you’re left with a data leak. 

Even the best antivirus will only protect you from malware in this case. You should think of other approaches here. Be thoughtful, giving employees access to corporate information, force them to use complex passwords and maybe a password manager to keep everything safe, and keep an eye on a person if they show unusual behavior. Also, invest in a cybersecurity specialist or outsource this job to a third-party company.