Cybersecurity Trends Report: Check Point Software Predicts Rise in Hacks and Exploits

By Jim Masters • Nov 10, 2022

What lies ahead on the front lines of cybersecurity? Check Point Software Technologies, Inc. provides forecasts for 2023 and details the key security challenges facing organizations.

Cyberattacks Across All Industry Sectors 28% increase In the third quarter of 2022 compared to 2021, Checkpoint said in a prepared statement. Additionally, Check Point expects exponential growth to continue around the world, driven by rising ransomware exploits and state-mobilized hacktivism driven by international conflicts.

Increased pressure on security teams

Security teams face increasing pressure from a global cyber workforce gap. 3.4 million employees Further expanding, Checkpoint reports. Governments are also expected to introduce new cyber regulations to protect their citizens from breaches.

In 2022, cybercriminals and nation-state threat actors will continue to exploit hybrid ways of working in organizations, Check Point said. As such, the rise in these attacks shows no signs of slowing down as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to have a profound global impact.

Check Point advises organizations to consolidate and automate their security infrastructure so they can better monitor and manage their attack surface.

Learn more about our cybersecurity predictions for 2023

Check Point’s cybersecurity predictions for 2023 fall into four categories: malware and phishing. Hacktivism; New Government Regulations. Security integration.

Rise in malware and hacking exploits

• No escape from ransomwareThis was the primary threat to organizations in the first half of 2022. The ransomware ecosystem continues to evolve and grow, with smaller and more agile criminal groups forming to evade law enforcement.

• Compromise of collaboration toolsPhishing attempts against business and personal email accounts are a daily threat. In 2023, criminals will broaden their motives to target business collaboration tools such as Slack, Teams, OneDrive, and Google Drive with phishing exploits. Given that most organizations’ employees continue to frequently work remotely, these are rich sources of sensitive data.

Hacktivism and the evolution of deepfakes

• State-mobilized hacktivismOver the past year, hacktivism has evolved from a social group with a fluid agenda such as Anonymous to a more organized, structured and sophisticated state-sponsored group. Such groups have recently hit targets in the United States, Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland, Poland, and Japan. These ideological attacks will continue to escalate in 2023.
• Weaponizing deepfakes. In October 2022, a deepfake of President Joe Biden singing “Baby Shark” instead of the national anthem went viral. Was this a joke, or an attempt to influence the crucial US midterm elections? will be used more and more to

Government steps up measures to protect citizens

• New laws on data breachesThe breach at Australian telecommunications company Optus has prompted the country’s government to introduce new data breach regulations that other telecommunications companies must comply with to protect customers from subsequent fraud. In 2023, other governments will follow suit.
• New National Cybercrime Task ForceFollowing Singapore’s example of creating an inter-ministerial task force to combat ransomware and cybercrime, bringing together businesses, state departments and law enforcement agencies to counter growing threats to commerce and consumers. government will increase. Some of these efforts are the result of questions about whether cyber insurance departments can be trusted as a safety net for cyber incidents.
• Security and privacy mandated by designThe automotive industry is already moving to introduce measures to protect vehicle owners’ data. This example carries over to other areas of consumer goods that store and process data, holding manufacturers accountable for vulnerabilities in their products.

Consolidated matter

• Reduce complexity to reduce risk. By 2022, the global cyber skills gap will grow by more than 25%. However, due to the pandemic, organizations are deploying more complex and distributed networks and clouds than ever before. Security teams must consolidate their IT and security infrastructure to strengthen defenses, reduce workload, and stay ahead of threats. More than two-thirds of his CISOs say using fewer vendor solutions improves their company’s security.