Predictions 2020: Cybersecurity in the New Year

A look ahead at the state of cybersecurity in the coming year

Heading into 2019, the jury was still out on whether the number of data breaches would increase or decrease this year. In 2018, the number of breaches in the U.S. dropped for the first time in about five years. Good news, right? Well, sort of. While the overall number of breaches declined, the number of records breached in these incidents shot up—way up. This led to the question: Would the downward trend in data breaches continue or would we return to a more normal pattern in 2019?

It took roughly 10 months to get an answer to that question. There were 1,244 reported data breaches in 2018. At the end of October 2019, the number of data breaches in the U.S. stood at 1,272 with two months to go. Safe to say, it appears the normal increasing pattern has returned.

Something else saw a significant increase in 2019: For the first time, hacking became the No. 1 cause of a data breach. This was followed by malicious actors (insiders and outsiders) and accidental breaches.

Cybersecurity in 2020

So where is cybersecurity headed in the new year? Will hackers continue to wreak havoc? Who is most at risk? How will businesses protect themselves and their customers? Here are my cybersecurity predictions for 2020:

The Hack is Back

Hacking will continue to become a bigger share of attacks that result in data loss or system takeover. Personal information, including usernames and passwords, remains a hot commodity on the dark web, making successful hacks very lucrative for cybercriminals.

Ransomware is Big Business

Ransomware will also continue to increase in 2020. This is due to the simple fact that businesses and governments continue to pay the ransom. Why? Well, most times it’s cheaper and less hassle for the victims to pay the ransom than to try to repair the damage themselves. Just ask the city of Atlanta. The city refused to pay a ransom of $52,000 and ended up spending $17 million to rebuild its computer network. So expect this trend to continue in 2020. To make matters worse, the average ransomware payment increased 6X in 2019.

SMBs Under Attack

Small and medium-sized businesses will be a bigger target for cybercriminals in 2020. This is because they don’t have adequate resources to protect their data and systems. Phishing attacks continue to be the most common type of attack, with data loss including sensitive employee and/or customer data being the most common result of such an attack. The Ponemon Institute reports that 76% of SMBs suffered a cyber attack in 2019, up from 55% in 2018. Meanwhile, the average cost of an attack against an SMB is now $200,000.

Companies will Face Tougher Data Privacy Laws

Cybersecurity and data privacy laws will continue to converge in 2020. The trend that started with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and accelerated with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is set to spread to other state laws that prescribe security standards as part of privacy laws and regulations. This means that companies will be forced to take measures to protect customer data—or face the consequences.

Taking Control of Cloud Security

Many organizations that migrated to the cloud are realizing (sometimes the hard way) that moving to the cloud does not imply security. Initially, there was a false sense of security when it came to the cloud. Threats, risks and vulnerabilities, however, don’t simply disappear in the cloud. Many cloud providers have made public announcements to this point. As a result, most companies migrating to the cloud will engage security on their own to mitigate liability in 2020.

Want to learn more about what to expect in 2020? Join us Jan. 23 for our Predict 2020 Virtual Summit featuring discussions from some of the industry’s best and brightest offering up their visions for the future. Sign up today for this free daylong virtual event.

John Adams

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John Adams

John Adams is chief executive officer of Waratek. As CEO, John has complete responsibility for developing markets and operating all aspects of the organization including structure, market focus and development cycle. John has a rich history of security and medical technology experience spanning more than two decades working for public companies and startups alike. Prior to Waratek, John served as president & COO of SecurAmerica leading the company’s expansion into nearly three-dozen new geographic markets. In his career, John has also served as SVP N. America for London-based G4S (formerly Securicor) and held senior executive positions at US Surgical Corporation and Medline Industries. John holds an MBA in Health Care Administration from Webster University and a BS in Business Administration/Accounting from Florida Southern College.

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