Top Trends & Predictions – Cyber Security Expectations for 2023

More attention to security awareness in the workplace
Recently, I have seen that security awareness is on the agendas of more organizations. Board members and managers are themselves often alert to cyber security risks. In 2023, they will realize more that their employees are also an essential part of their security strategy.

Employees are often the first to notice problems with the system, but what they do next makes all the difference. I am still amazed after running a security scan about the results. There are still many organizations where awareness among employees can be improved.

Potential problems are dealt with more quickly if there is a clear working method with accompanying instructions in the event of incidents. Employees then become the strongest link in your security instead of the weakest link.

On this page you can read everything about security awareness and how your employees can become the strongest link in your security.

Home work environment, the new danger
Organizations often offer employees the opportunity to work (partly) remotely. This does entail the necessary security risks. The security elsewhere is often less good than the IT security at your organization.
Think of:

Smart devices in employees’ homes, such as TV, smart lighting, smart doorbell, refrigerator, etc., pose a security risk because they are not always updated to the latest software patch.

Guests of your employees who are on the same Wi-Fi as the employee himself with his business laptop.

We therefore advise companies/consumers:

Install patches for your smart devices
Never use the same passwords for home and work
Change your WiFi password once a year, who knows who knows it all by now.

Or even better:
Provide a guest WiFi
Use two-factor authentication

Zero Trust Adoption
What is Zero Trust? In a zero trust environment, any device that tries to connect to your IT network is treated as a threat. Instead of trusting the device to be safe, you assume the device is unsafe until proven otherwise.

I expect that in 2023 entrepreneurs will increasingly discover that they really need to implement Zero Trust adoption. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a top trend that will become even more important in the coming years.

Working passwordless
In 2022 we already saw that passwordless working is on the rise. This trend will continue in 2023. Now that more and more devices are connected, it is becoming increasingly important to properly secure your IT environments and systems. Using passwords alone is not enough: passwords are too easy to crack.

The way to keep your IT environment and systems secure in the future is passwordless login. Instead of a password, you use a fingerprint, facial recognition, pin or a portable security key to log in.

More attacks on macOS
The number of malware attacks on macOS has already increased in recent years. Between 2020 and 2022, the amount of malware for macOS has increased by 160%. My expectation is that this trend will continue.

So Apple users beware! Although Apple’s macOS operating system is less attacked than other operating systems, macOS is vulnerable to hacker attacks.

Cyber criminals are looking for other methods to penetrate organizations
They do this through:

Phishing campaigns that respond to current events
Just like last year, cybercriminals will respond even more to current events in 2023.
You can read tips in a next blog.

Attacks on and via distribution chain
The supply-chain attacks in which part of the distribution chain is shut down. We expect to see many more of these attacks in 2023 as well. For cybercriminals, a supply-chain attack is a smart and, above all, an efficient way to gain access to many organizations in one go.

IoT hacks
As more and more devices are connected over the internet, the number of potential vulnerabilities increases. It is the chance for cybercriminals to penetrate an IT network.

In addition to home working environments, as an entrepreneur you also have to take into account IoT devices that are used for business and can be hacked. Such as security cameras, cash register systems, smart TVs in meeting rooms, etc.

Smartphone hacks
Cyber criminals are increasingly looking for options to hack smartphones. For example, through a leak in the operating system of a device. There is a lively trade in these vulnerabilities on the dark web.

The number of cyber attacks on smartphones is expected to increase in the coming years.