The Rising Tide of Cyber Threats: Are We Prepared?

India and the United States of America (USA) figured among the top ten nations in the world, having faced the most cyberattacks during the latter part of 2022. These countries have since witnessed a flurry of cyber threats ranging from compromising personal information to attacks on critical infrastructure.

As per a Blackberry Global Threat Intelligence Report, that analyzed countries most affected by cyberattacks, over a 90-day period, the USA accounted for 65% of the total cyber attacks in the world. This research, conducted over a 90-day period, from September-November 2022, also placed India in the ninth position. India accounted for 2% of the overall cyberattacks in the world.

This raises concerns about the readiness of countries to thwart and combat evolving cyberattacks that are looming large and threaten to disrupt their economies.

The Evolving Nature of Cyber Threats

Cyberattacks are constantly evolving and encompass malicious activity ranging from data breaches to reputation damage and state-sponsored hacking. The motives behind these attacks are varying and pose a definite threat to the digital well-being of not just organizations but also economies. Cybercriminals have continued to leverage disruptive technology, viz., Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, to engineer attacks and evolve these to exploit vulnerabilities in processes and systems throughout the world.

An example here is the threat of Deepfakes that have continued to plague people of repute, and also threatening various essential systems across the world and bringing disrepute. This represents a case of AI-leveraged cyberattack and improper usage of technology. A decade ago, with AI still emerging, Deepfakes were yet to emerge.

The threat of Deepfakes is today real, and various countries have put in place mechanisms to check its spread. In 2023, the number of malware attacks across the world was a whopping 6.06 billion, representing a 10% increase over the preceding years, with 2018 witnessing a shocking 10.5 billion global malware attacks. The impact on individuals and organizations is massive; with businesses (especially in economies like India) increasingly migrating to the cloud and adapting newer technology to solve varied problems, the question of cyber preparedness comes to the fore. Are the gaps in cybersecurity appropriately addressed? 

Cyber Security Preparedness: The Numero-Uno Priority for All

With economies like India witnessing disruption by startups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), with some of these having already turned unicorns, the question of being foolproof to prevent and combat cyber threats also comes to the fore. At this juncture, certain concerns warranting immediate attention exist:

●    Being Cyber Alert: Promoting awareness of cybersecurity at various levels to prevent cyber attacks. The formulation of policies on cyber awareness and cybersecurity best practices will become the order of the day at all levels across organizations.

 

●    Focused investments in cybersecurity: Enterprises and governments must focus on quality investments in cybersecurity infrastructure such as advanced threat detection systems, intrusion detection systems, the deployment of AI-driven solutions to identify and combat threats, and upgrading incident response. 

 

●    Collaborative Approach: Public-private partnerships focused on developing newer cybersecurity solutions must receive a shot in the arm. Participation from multinational corporations (MNCs) is crucial for the development of newer technology to make human society cyber-smart.

●    Regulatory and Standard Framework: The role of governments is crucial in ensuring regulations and enforcing accountability on entities to protect sensitive data and strengthen the cyber army to combat cyber threats (and cyber attacks).

 

●    Innovation and Evolution: The need of the hour is for human society to evolve and develop innovative solutions to stay multiple steps ahead of digital threats and attacks. Organizations must constantly formulate strategies, adapt innovation to safeguard digital properties and participate in appropriate knowledge transfer to their respective governments.

The Road Ahead

With the evolution of newer challenges and complexities threatening the very framework of the digital world around us, it has become imperative to focus on developing cyber-smart strategies through the collective efforts of individuals, enterprises, organizations, and governments. These collective efforts, when undertaken, would be poised to lead us and the next generation of humans (and technology) into a cyber-secure future that is resilient and smart.

The evolving nature of cyber threats also presents an opportunity to develop a threat-resilient and secure cyberspace where trustworthiness and reliability are the key pillars. It's time to put on our cybersecurity hats!

Authored by - Aayush Ghosh Choudhury, Cofounder and CEO, Scrut Automation