Cyber threat refers to the probability of a malicious act disrupting a digital infrastructure. 

In this digital era, where 63% of the global population uses the internet (Statista: April 2022 stats), economies rely on the quality of internet speed and digital structures; Cybersecurity threats are a significant concern worldwide. According to a study, there will be a cyber-ransomware attack every 11 seconds by 2022. It reveals the worst situation of cyber-attacks and the significance of evolving cybersecurity modules.

AI in cybersecurity is the only option to design a proactive cybersecurity wall for identifying & mitigating known & unknown cyber-attacks.

Everyone from individuals and organizations to governments analyzes varying cyber threats’ potential to build a robust cybersecurity module. From data stealing and election rigging to choking healthcare or electricity systems, cyber threats are evolving rapidly. 

Cyberwar is the talk of the town, which can be as devastating as a physical war. Whether you’re an individual or a business/government IT team representative, awareness of the latest cyber threats in 2022 is essential for preparing an unbreakable cybersecurity wall.

This blog will discuss the top 5 cybersecurity threats the world may face in 2022 to help you for preparing a robust cyber security wall.

Top 5 Cybersecurity threats in 2022

We have compiled a list of top cybersecurity threats to the world in 2022,

1.   Social Engineering Cyber Attacks 

Social engineering refers to malicious activities to exploit human errors to access sensitive information or digital assets. Social engineering will remain on top of the cyber threats list in 2022.

 Verizon data breaches investigation report 2021 reveals that 85% of cyber-attacks involve human negligence. And we will witness this pattern in the upcoming few years as it’s easier to trick humans than AI-based algorithms. 

Social engineering cyber-attacks are made with varying techniques; any human interaction-based digital asset in your organization can be a target for social engineering cyber-attacks. We have enlisted a few known social engineering cyber-attacks techniques,

• Baiting – It is a technique to trap users for their sensitive information. Hackers can lure users by triggering their sense of curiosity or greed. A flash drive or free software version with hidden malware can be an example of a baiting cybersecurity attack technique.
• Scareware – Users are forced to install disguised malware by bombarding fake security alarms. Victims get scareware as security software and become prey to hackers.
• Phishing – It refers to trapping users by sending disguised fraudulent emails. Hackers impersonate a reputable individual or organization to send fraudulent emails to get victims’ sensitive information.

2.   Third-party Breaches

Outsourcing is a new common, from small regional companies to multinational groups. It has amazing benefits to outsource the work, but it can put companies’ cybersecurity at risk.

Third-party sourcing companies generally have access to the prime servers of the main company. Any vulnerability in a third-party company’s system can cost the main company. Hackers target these third-party sourcing companies to reach prime target servers.

In one of the major third-party breaches, hackers stole 408 GB and 214 million Facebook, IG, and LinkedIn users’ personal data, because of Socialark’s vulnerable security system. Socialarks is a Chinese third-party social media data management company for FB, IG, and LinkedIn.

A CyberArk 2020 Survey reveals that 96% of the organizations have granted their critical systems access to external parties. It allows us to enlist third-party security breaches in the top cybersecurity threats of 2022. 

Analyzing third-party companies’ cyber security models should be essential before partnering or outsourcing work to them, as the cybersecurity of third-party companies is as critical as the cybersecurity of the main company.

3.   Internet of Things Breaches

The Covid-19 pandemic induced the work-from-home trend, where 85% of Americans have smartphones, and 43% of Americans have smart devices at home. It opens a new world for hackers to target people working from home.

A Netscout threat intelligence report 2021 reveals that an average smart device gets attacked within 5 minutes after connecting to the internet. It implicates the IoT breaches’ potential in 2022, where work from home is a new common.

With an AI-based cybersecurity module, you may get your organization ready to resist IoT attacks by implementing healthy cyber hygiene practices.

4.   Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware is an undeniable reality. We have seen many multinational organizations and educational institutions becoming prey to ransomware attacks in the recent past. Ransomware attacks cost the companies income and reputation by disrupting their services or threatening to release sensitive information.

RaaS (Ransomware as a service) enables layman or novel hackers to execute highly sophisticated cyber-attacks by deploying the pre-developed ransomware software. The RaaS model is the biggest threat to the cybersecurity of the modern-day digital world.

Now people without any coding or hacking knowledge/experience can execute deadly Ransomware cyber-attacks. That means the world will witness a significant rise in ransomware cyber-attacks in 2022.

5.   Cloud Services Breaches

With the pandemic-induced work-from-home trend, we have witnessed the rapid adoption of cloud services worldwide. People rely on cloud services for online meetings or file sharing; Cloud services adoption happens quickly, and companies don’t get time to prepare remote work security modules. That opens up a new gate for hackers to access sensitive information.

An IBM report indicates that cloud vulnerabilities have increased by 150% in the last five years; it has enhanced the expert’s concern regarding cloud security with the increasing load.

Cloud services’ internal loopholes are more crucial security threats than users’ cyber hygiene. Cloud services providers have seen Zero trust security architecture as a new strategy to resist cloud breaches. This zero-trust model asks for password verification at every step to ensure robust cybersecurity.

Final Words | Top Cybersecurity Threats in 2022

Cyber-attacks are a bitter reality; hundreds of thousands of hackers work around the clock to find vulnerabilities in a digital network. It’s not an easy job to build a vulnerabilities-free cybersecurity wall, especially for a multinational company with a bulk of data or millions of users.

Staying updated with top security threats in 2022 and new developments in the cybersecurity industry can help you resist cyber-attacks. AI-based automated, proactive, and evolving cybersecurity structure is the need of the hour to protect digital assets from sophisticated cyber-attacks.