Weapons and Defense

The main targets for cybercriminals: bitcoins, hospitals, schools and personal computers

In 2018, it is worth waiting for new threats, and in order to prevent business losses and data loss for ordinary users, it is worth exploring possible vulnerabilities now.

AI and machine learning - weapons and defense

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are actively developing, penetrating into all areas of business. Such technologies will allow us to process huge amounts of data in order to identify and fix vulnerabilities much faster, to detect suspicious activity. However, attackers are also unlikely to ignore AI and Machine Learning.

Artificial intelligence will be able to support attacks, identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities even faster than protection will fix them. Experts predict real cyber warfare using AI and machine learning, and you need to prepare for it now. Learning AI and reinforcing it with strategic human intelligence is called the best strategy.

“There are no people in our country whom I would trust to implement AI in a cybersecurity system. If it is a third-party or poorly controlled AI, it can itself become a security hole. However, globally, this is a very interesting topic,” said Ivan Danishevsky, founder and CEO of ESM e-sports platform.

According to him, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence help find security holes and build more secure systems.

Education and health are key targets

The most vulnerable sectors from the point of view of IT security will again be under attack - education and healthcare. Experts predict that they will become the main targets of hackers in 2018. In healthcare, at least in Western countries, IT infrastructure is better developed than in education, however, it is innovation that can become a bottleneck in the security system.

Medical institutions in developed countries are starting to implement IoT technologies by connecting devices directly to the Internet. This allows you to better analyze the data, make more clear diagnoses and develop more effective treatment plans. At the same time, it increases the risks of cyberattacks.

One of the most important issues is the development of reliable authentication, limiting access to devices and data encryption.

Internet of Things at Risk

IoT technologies are a weak link not only in cybersecurity of healthcare. Other areas also receive increased risks. Smart House and Smart City systems, as well as other technologies in the sphere of the “Internet of things”, so far have poor protection. Many users do not even change access passwords for such gadgets.

Attackers can gain access to the entire system through massive botnet attacks. Experts see a solution to this problem by using AI and Machine Learning to predict attacks.

New wave of ransomware attacks

Ransomware viruses remain extremely lucrative. In 2017, they brought their creators more than $1 billion. According to forecasts, in 2018 new ransomware attacks will occur.

Creating a ransomware virus is becoming easier. There is even the concept of RaaS (Ransomware as a Service). These are platforms that allow you to launch a wave of infections without technical expertise. Attackers distribute ready-made templates with which you can organize your own attack.

The main task is not writing a virus, but its introduction. Here, crackers rely on social engineering and a low level of computer literacy for users. It is impossible to quickly increase literacy, therefore, the field of cyber insurance will develop.

“The human factor remains the highest threat in IT security. In addition to the fact that a user can accidentally launch malware or open their data to attackers, there is also such a thing as the loss or theft of gadgets.

A couple of years ago, Intel calculated that one lost or stolen laptop costs the company $ 50 thousand, ” says Sergey Vlasko, CEO of personal belongings' protection company mySafety Ukraine.

“Gadget physical insurance and cyber insurance will evolve. In Ukraine, this is not so common, but in Europe, due to a different mentality, even private individuals think about such protection, not to mention companies,” he adds.

Organized cybercrime

As it becomes easier to create viruses and launch large-scale attacks, a massive pop culture is emerging around cybercrime. This activity is no longer taboo in many communities, and in the coming years we can expect an increase in cybercrime and active self-organization of hackers.

The community of IT security professionals is likely to respond with a union and international cooperation. Organizations and individuals will develop common cybersecurity standards.

The basis may be the updated in 2017 project to improve the critical infrastructure of the Cybersecurity Framework from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST.

Even if uniform standards are adopted, the shortage of qualified personnel remains a problem. To narrow the gap in qualifications, many tasks will be performed on an outsourced basis.

The era of crypto jacking

The latest trend is cryptojacking. This is a secret use of computer power for cryptocurrency mining. The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market in 2017 exceeded $500 billion, and the topic is becoming more popular. According to experts, cryptocurrency is going through a normal stage for any rapidly growing field: a huge increase in popularity — a huge increase in fraud.

To mine cryptocurrency using someone else's computer, you do not even need to install software. In-browser crypto-jacking uses JavaScript to extract directly from web pages. “It happens that a Wi-Fi provider, for example, in Starbucks, mines using computers connected to it. After all, no one controls what is happening with the computer. People themselves usually don't care. A recent case: a man transferred a crypt through open Wi-Fi, after which he was hacked into his wallet and pulled out all the money.

The user can protect himself. There are plugins that check if the processor is loading. The application is convenient to monitor what is happening with the processor. If a user connected to a Wi-Fi network and noticed sharp jumps in temperature and load, something is wrong. In fact, it kills the computer. Now this will only progress. The increase in the cost of cryptocurrency leads to the fact that the conditional Wi-Fi point in the restaurant brings a lot of money to people who mine using ordinary people's computers, ” says Igor Pertsia, director of new business at UaMaster Digital Agency.

The expert emphasizes that offline cryptocurrency fraud is rarely discussed now. In Ukraine, many are interested in mining and buy expensive farms. Careless conversations lead to the fact that the farm can be stolen.

In addition, people are lured to conclude an offline cryptocurrency sale transaction, and then forced to transfer funds to attackers. The expert advises to be careful about offline transactions, sell cryptocurrencies only to trusted people and not to brag about your success in conversations with outsiders.

TAG:

Views: 902

Damian

Author

I have been trading Forex for more than 5 years, mostly with manual and automatic trading. I set up advisors for round-the-clock automated trading. I'm sure I can help to establish your trading skills....