Trend Micro Incorporated, the leader in cloud security, predicts that home networks, remote working software and cloud systems will be at the center of a new wave of attacks in 2021.
Trend Micro’s predictions report, Turning the Tide, forecasts that cybercriminals in 2021 will particularly look to home networks as a critical launch pad to compromising corporate IT and IoT networks.
“With businesses shifting to remote work due to the pandemic, cybercriminals went after tools used in these environments such as video conferencing apps. We predict more aggressive attacks to target corporate data and networks,” said Nilesh Jain, Vice President for Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro. “To defend Singapore’s cyberspace at the outset, security teams will need to double down on user training, extended detection and response and adaptive access controls. This past year was all about surviving: now it’s time for businesses to thrive, with comprehensive cloud security as their foundation.”
The report warns that end users who regularly access sensitive data (e.g. HR professionals accessing employee data, sales managers working with sensitive customer information, or senior executives managing confidential company numbers) will be at greatest risk. Attacks will likely exploit known vulnerabilities in online collaboration and productivity software soon after they are disclosed, rather than zero-days.
Access-as-a-service business models of cybercrime will grow, targeting the home networks of high-value employees, corporate IT and IoT networks. IT security teams will need to overhaul work from home policies and protections to tackle the complexity of hybrid environments — where work and personal data comingle in a single machine. Zero-trust approaches will increasingly be favored to empower and secure distributed workforces.
See also: Remote Workers Conscious of Company’s Cybersecurity, But May Still Engage in Risky Behaviour
As third-party integrations reign, Trend Micro also warned that exposed APIs will become a new preferred attack vector for cybercriminals, providing access to sensitive customer data, source code and back-end services.
Cloud systems are another area in which threats will continue to persist in 2021, from unwitting users, misconfigurations, and attackers attempting to take over cloud servers to deploy malicious container images.
Trend Micro recommends the following steps to mitigate threats in 2021:
Cybercriminals will continue to go where the money is – seeking the greatest financial returns on their attacks. Organizations and security teams must remain nimble and vigilant to stay ahead of criminals.
Read also: Cybersecurity Tips for IT Team in the Ongoing Pandemic
