"With the US presidential election that will attract the world's attention in 2020, we will undoubtedly see allegations of electoral interference and manipulation in the coming year," said by company Eset from a Slovak cybersecurity expert in its latest report. In this respect, its experts address the main challenges that are expected to have an impact on both consumers and businesses next year.
1. The militarization of the news
The fog about the fake news is getting thicker, according to Eset. The term "fake news" has gained in importance as a result of the outcry over the manipulation of information and data in the US election of 2016, and there is no doubt that it will once again be controversial in the 2020 campaign.
"While this year Facebook was fined $ 5 billion for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, "says Tony Anscombe," evangelist "at Eset Global Security,"the militarization of information shows no sign of stopping for 2020."
He says his teams are continually finding massive data breaches and system compromise in businesses and government departments.
Question: "Why would Technology or voting processes be exempt from similar attacks?"
2. The machine learning
While autonomous artificial intelligence is still a long way off, machine learning (ML) is developing. While this represents exciting opportunities for the cybersecurity industry, cybercriminals will also use automatic learning to increase the size and complexity of their attacks.
For example, with deepfakes which are one of the techniques that use ML. "By 2020, the use of this technology by cybercriminals will increase. The quality of deepfakes is increasing at an impressive rate, " says ESET security specialist Jake Moore. "The future could see this technology become commonplace in order to harm public figures by making them say whatever the creator wants."
The general public will have to learn to analyze these videos, even the most realistic ones, with skepticism, he advises.
3. Data confidentiality
While in 2019 we saw quite a few countries adopt or implement laws concerning new or extensive violations, the feeling of distrust about the use of personal data remains omnipresent. "As long as privacy fines don't go up to a higher percentage of corporate income, this problem won't go away," says Lysa Myers, senior security researcher at Eset.
It echoes the opinion of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, which has advised companies to keep all their features while respecting privacy.
"The companies that manage to achieve this feat are likely to have a significant advantage in terms of the market".
In addition, the researcher notes the decline in confidence in usernames and passwords, with a need for organizations to increase their use of multi-factorial authentication.
4. Smart cities
Today, more than 80% of new buildings incorporate elements of the IoT (internet of things, i.e. connected objects). However, experts have expressed their concerns that smart cities are growing faster than our ability to secure them.
Many smart devices and systems lack strong authentication protocols or are not protected by any type of security solution. "Malware attacks on smart cities are a real problem," warns Cecilia Pastorino, a security researcher at Eset. "Although the systems used by cities and smart buildings don't surf the web or open emails, they really need to protect themselves from malware."
5. Digital transformation
That businesses must adapt to an increasingly digital world is not a new phenomenon. Yet a particular trend related to digital transformation is threatening organizations: the growth of employee mobility.
"Our ability to stay connected to networks, wherever we are, continues to increase organizations' attack surfaces and their exposure to risk... often, the increasing speed at which companies adopt mobile technology does not really take security into account, " says Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, senior security researcher at Eset.
The expert expects that in the coming months organizations will implement major changes in virtually all areas of their activities. "The main thread will be how they manage the information and data involved in their operations," he concludes.
