Trend Micro predicts that the UAE’s home networks, remote working software, and cloud systems will be at the centre of a new wave of cyberattacks 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.
“As the UAE begins to enter a post-pandemic world, the trend for remote and hybrid working is likely going to continue for many organisations,” said Majd Sinan, Country Manager – UAE, Trend Micro. “In 2021, we predict that cyber criminals will launch more aggressive attacks to target corporate data and networks in the UAE.”
Showing the breadth of cyberattacks, during the first half of 2020, the UAE experienced a combined 13,100,616 email, URL, and malware cyber-threats detected by Trend Micro, according to Trend Micro’s Midyear Security Report. Ransomware attacks in the UAE were 4.27% of the world’s ransomware attacks.
“In 2021, the UAE’s security teams will need to double down on user training, extended detection and response and adaptive access controls,” added Majd Sinan. “This past year, many UAE organisations were focused on surviving: now it’s time for the UAE’s organisations 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.
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:
- Foster user education and training to extend corporate security best practices to the home, including advice against the use of personal devices
- Maintain strict access controls for both corporate networks and the home office, including zero trust
- Double down on best practice security and patch management programs
- Augment threat detection with security expertise to protect cloud workloads, emails, endpoints, networks, and servers round-the-clock
Cybercriminals will continue to go where the money is – seeking the greatest financial returns on their attacks. Organisations and security teams must remain nimble and vigilant to stay ahead of criminals.
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