Expert Warns: Cyber Attacks Will Be Even More Common in 2021

Cyber ​​scams exploded in 2020 and the trend is that next year, they will become even more common, as a home office or hybrid regimes become routine and e-commerce, a great ally of quarantines during the pandemic. of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), remains with rising numbers. Companies and governments are in the crosshairs, alongside the cosmetics, health, telephone operators, hotels, and financial systems industries.

This is Fortinet's information in a threat intelligence report for Latin America. According to data from the company specializing in digital security, in Brazil alone, there were 3.4 billion coup attempts between January and September this year. It is one of the highest rates in Latin America, which, in total, recorded 20 billion cases in the first nine months of this year. It is just the beginning of a multiplication story that must go on in 2021.

For Thiago Bordini, cybersecurity specialist and professor of the post-graduate course in Cyber ​​Security at the Daryus Institute of Higher Education in São Paulo (IDESP), there is a good adaptation of Brazilians to the new trends in work and consumption, but also, difficulty in following the evolution of these technologies. “Brazil has adapted well to the home office, e-commerce and service applications, [but] this ends up opening a door for hackers. It is inevitable that the number of attempts to steal data will increase ”, he explains.

In the professor's view, access to information on digital security, supported by the market, in addition to a tightening of laws on digital crimes by the government, are ways to balance the scenario. However, Bordini points out that this is not an easy task, since for companies, the volume of information to be analyzed in search of evidence of fraud is increasing, while criminals specialize and become more sophisticated.

Phishing attacks via email continue to rise in 2021

The main trend for 2021 continues to be scammed by email, with phishing attempts corresponding to 65% of this year's detections, along with doors opened by internal actors (34%). According to the data, 94% of the malware that effectively infected systems in 2020 was delivered via email, with attacks involving social engineering that directly affect users and overcome security barriers.

In Bordini's view, the motivation is always financial and hackers are increasingly eyeing data such as CPF, address, and full names, as well as bank details. In the first case, the idea is to resell the information or blackmail the victims, while the frauds are a direct reflection of the second. The professor also highlights the use of malware with artificial intelligence systems to find patterns and avoid detection by security software.

In the case of companies, ransomware will continue as a trend, with double strikes that have been registered week by week. In addition to breaking into systems and locking in data, hackers are also able to extract information, asking for ransom not only to release compromised networks but also not to release sensitive or confidential content publicly, which can also cause institutions affected to incur regional fines on account of privacy protection laws.

In this sense, threat intelligence courses also need to grow, in order to prepare professionals for such challenges. The perspective of ISC², an international consortium focused on certification and combating digital threats, is that the cybersecurity education market needs to grow 89% to cope with the new flow of dangers in the digital environment so that there is no shortage of qualified professionals.

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