Cybercrime has long been a concern for organisations that deal with sensitive and valuable information, and it seems that the quicker developers find solutions, the faster cybercriminals come up with ways to circumvent them.

Thank goodness for predictions because, as they say, forewarned is forearmed, so without further ado, here are the top five cybersecurity predictions related to areas that are likely to see an increase in 2023:

Business e-mail attacks
Malware and ransomware attacks
Cryptocurrency scams
Artificial intelligence in cyberattacks.
Cyberattacks on mobile devices

Getting all up in your business

Top of the list, and most likely to increase due to their attractive potential payouts, are business e-mail scams. These scams involve spoofed e-mails that look like they’re coming from a trusted source like a company executive, fellow employee or outside vendor. Scammers typically ask the recipient to urgently transfer funds and rely on manipulative social engineering tactics to get their victims to act quickly.

These attacks are quite common in payroll divisions when scammers, impersonating an employee, e-mail the payroll team to change their direct deposit account details. Recently, these attacks have also made the news for the impact they’ve had on law firms where scammers have got clients to deposit large sums of money into the incorrect account.

It is important to note that while these e-mails are often obviously fake, they do sometimes look legitimate and contain a backstory that lends credibility.

Beware the malware

Malware is malicious software that causes harm in many ways, including, among others, locking devices or making them unusable, stealing, deleting or encrypting data, and taking control of devices for criminal activity.

Ransomware is malware that prohibits you from accessing your computer and anything stored on it. Your data is then stolen, deleted or encrypted, and the attackers demand a ransom for it to be reinstated. Payment is typically demanded in cryptocurrency. The ability to extort money from desperate victims is what makes this cybercrime so appealing to criminals.

Flipping the (bit)coin

Crypto scams are much like other financial scams, except scammers are targeting your crypto rather than your cash. Crypto scammers often lure investors into purchasing fake assets at high value, using crypto to pay for fraudulent transactions, or getting victims to divulge personal information in order to access their crypto wallets.

Bot takeover

Hackers can easily manipulate AI systems by reverse engineering them to gain access to the data sets that were used to train them. Making small, subtle changes can slowly move AI in a completely different direction. Modified input data can expose vulnerabilities in a system or even cause it to malfunction. Once hackers have access to an AI system, they can do just about anything.

It’s an a(pp)tack!

Nowadays, mobile devices are critical for many businesses. They do, however, carry significant security risk and, as such, are increasingly becoming targets for cybercriminals. There are numerous ways in which mobile devices can be attacked, including malicious apps and websites, mobile ransomware, phishing, network-level attacks and exploitation of vulnerabilities in the mobile operating system.

So, how do we stop them?

Three6five has partnered with OutThink.io as its solution of choice to combat cybercrime. OutThink.io allows businesses to take preventative action through personalised training that empowers their people to stop cybercrime in its tracks. Smart, right?

About OutThink
OutThink is a revolutionary human risk management platform (software as a service) empowering chief information security officers by targeting the source of 90% of all data breaches – human behaviour.

OutThink’s unique cybersecurity solution means that:

Businesses will deliver personalised and targeted cybersecurity awareness training.
They can generate advanced analytics (human risk intelligence) to support a data-based, risk-driven approach.
Organisation will be able to identify high-risk groups and employees within an organisation and understand why these employees are high-risk.
Businesses will learn how to support these employees.
Businesses will recruit cybersecurity champions.
Businesses will be able to assess the current cybersecurity culture in their organisations – attitudes, intentions, people’s perceptions, the current level of protection and security behaviours.
They will be able to produce meaningful reports for the executive management team.

Click here to download the white paper, Managing Human Risk in Phishing. To see what Gartner says about OutThink, read here.

About three6five
Three6five is a leading digital business infrastructure operations (DBIO) solutions provider. Founded by engineers in 2006, three6five understands how to apply digital technologies and how to build and manage digital networks that work best for businesses. It helps clients to identify and seize in-the-moment, business-defining outcomes, helping them to create, deploy and support the forward-thinking infrastructure they need to translate digital technology into business success. Three6five is a proud B-BBEE level-2 contributor. For more, visit www.three6five.com.