Navigating the cybersecurity landscape: Emerging threats and best practices

Our digitized world is evolving at a rapid pace – with technological innovation around every corner and across every industry. As our cyber networks advance and become more complex, so do the threats against them. The more we communicate digitally, the faster cyber threats can spread.

The rise of remote work has also sparked new infosec considerations, especially within cloud network security. Working remotely is now a mainstream business model, and it’s estimated that 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely by 2025.

Securing a huge remote workforce – one that’s often plugged into personal devices and less secure home networks – has become just as critical as securing corporate environments. As policymakers catch up to remote work, you can expect future regulation on this front and potential adjustments to digital security standards.

This picture is why cyber security is not something any organization can afford to ignore in 2024. With personal and critical corporate data living in cyberspace, a digital security breach could lead to the exposure of sensitive data belonging to millions – and cause damage worth billions. 

A breach in your information security can jeopardize sensitive information, put your company at legal risk, halt operations, impact profits – and destroy customer trust for years to come. As technology evolves, organizations need to be alert and agile to new kinds of threats. 

As our technology evolves, so do our vulnerabilities. In addition to traditional cyber security challenges, here’s some of the emerging risks to consider: 

Generative AI

AI has transformed industries – cyber security included – for the better. But it’s also provided new opportunities to cyber criminals and malicious actors.  Today, hackers can leverage AI to automate cyber attacks – phishing campaigns, bot attacks and system vulnerability exploits are among some of the activities that can now be quickly created and deployed by an AI-powered program. To learn more about how you can build resilience to protect your AI investments – we’ve written a quick guide.

AI in health

With virtual health assistants (VHAs) on the rise, AI in the health space is of particular concern. Security threats like malware and phishing target VHAs more frequently, with sensitive patient data and health outcomes at stake. Not to mention huge legal repercussions for healthcare organizations. To learn more about how to secure your healthcare AI with cyber security measures, check out our article on VHAs. 

LLMs and prompt injections

Large language models (LLMs) are also vulnerable to exploitation. Because LLM applications don’t clearly distinguish between developer instructions and user input, hackers can override developer instructions with prompts, allowing them to control the LLM. For more details, explore our article on prompt injections and how to tackle them with better IT security. 

Third-party data breaches

This is where a malicious actor compromises a vendor, supplier, contractor or other partner in your supply chain to gain access to sensitive information or systems from your customers, clients or business partners. As global supply chains grow in complexity, these breaches are only becoming more common – according to a recent study, third-party data breaches rose by a record 49% last year.

The three major cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft and Google invest heavily in the security of their cloud architecture – which you as a customer can leverage. But even with the security benefits of the cloud, practicing cyber hygiene and implementing a robust cyber security strategy is vital to mitigate these emerging threats.

To build a resilient organization, here are the top cyber security best practices you should be investing in for 2024 and beyond:

1. Address your attack surface

Your “attack surface” is the number of all points (or “attack vectors”) where a malicious actor can try to enter data to or extract data from your organization. An attack surface area encompasses all the software and hardware that connects to your organization’s network – and reducing it is vital to your cybersecurity. To do this, you need a clear overview of all your digital assets and potential vulnerabilities, and a strong attack surface management system in place.

2. Practice the “principle of least privilege”

POLP is an important cyber security best practice where user accounts are only granted the permissions they need to perform their job functions. It minimizes the attack surface by restricting the capabilities of user accounts to the bare minimum.

3. Invest in observability tools

In cyber security, observability is the practice of inferring the internal state of a system by observing its external outputs – primarily through the three pillars of logs, metrics and traces.  A highly observable system exposes enough information for operators to have a complete picture of its status – and operations teams spend less time trying to understand its internal state. 

4. Build an incident response plan

A solid IR plan is the first line of defense against security incidents and helps establish best practices to prevent further breaches. It’s among the most important digital security measures. A well-documented and tested incident response process sets out a clear plan when security incidents arise, allowing you to identify and eradicate attacks faster. The two most respected IR frameworks were developed by NIST and SANS.

5. Be proactive with chaos testing 

Test the resilience of your IR plan by simulating cyberattacks and intentionally introducing disturbances to identify vulnerabilities. This method is known as “chaos testing” – far from being chaotic, this proactive and methodical approach prepares systems for unforeseen issues and is a crucial part of any effort to build secure and resilient cyber infrastructures.