2020 was a year like no other. It will go down in history for many things, but all pale in the face of the upheaval caused by the worst public health crisis of the century.
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down, revealing how fragile we are collectively and causing many of us to lose all sense of control we had until then in our lives. As we move into the new year, the world remains firmly at the mercy of the coronavirus, making predictions about the future more difficult than ever.
It is certain that 2021 will also reveal how much our daily life is inextricably linked to technology.
Social alienation has become a way of life, keeping us confined to our homes all day and overturning many of our plans. As a result, we are constantly connected and technology is now more than ever a part of modern life.
This includes the work sector, where some trends are now moving too fast amid the inevitable strong need for remote work. This change has created the ultimate storm of challenges in cybersecurity, as organizations and the workforce have to swim (or sink) in the largely unknown waters of remote work.
It is natural, therefore, a part of this year reports Cybersecurity Trends ESET's 2021 cybersecurity trends for the new year examine the potentially indelible mark the pandemic has left, not only on our work habits, but also on the thousands of cyber risks facing organizations and their employees.
Elsewhere in ESET's Cybersecurity Trends 2021 report, another notable trend is the escalation of the ransomware threat. Certainly, this form of malware has been a strong threat for many years. However, ransomware makers continue to look for new ways to increase their "return on investment," including developing new tactics that tighten the noose around victims.
"We wonder if the latest chapters in the evolution of this type of malware could justify even changing the term 'ransomware'," says Tomáš Foltýn, security writer at ESET.
Of course, there have been other notable developments in the malware scene. The so-called "live-off-the-land" techniques, which exploit the legitimate tools and processes of an operating system and exploit them for malicious purposes, are nothing new.
However, they have evolved more recently and have, as evidenced by ESET researchers, developed into advanced campaigns against various high-profile targets.
Finally, we look at another trend to watch out for – the new chapters in the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. At the time when all objects are connected to Internet, internet-connected sex toys are also looking for a place in the sun. Again, this trend isn't entirely new, but that doesn't make it any less concerning.
With IoT applications come huge challenges to privacy and security, and these take on a whole new meaning when vulnerable sex toys connected to the internet come to the fore. As ESET research has shown, there are several gaps in the security and privacy characteristics of smart adult toys, highlighting the generally dangerous situation in the IoT area.
There is a lot more information that can be drawn from this year's edition of the report on cyber security trends. The pandemic has cast a heavy shadow over society, but if there is one good thing that comes out of the crisis, it is that valuable lessons can also be learned from it.
Among them, we must remember that diligence, vigilance and knowledge are powerful tools that allow "immunity" against various types of threats.
