The internet of things, data protection, artificial intelligence, encryption and security awareness are some of the biggest trends that will affect cyber security this year.
So says Logicalis, in a newly released guide that aims to help organisations and individuals in the Channel Islands understand cybercrime and how they can protect themselves.
Its guide, Five trends that will shape cyber security in 2018, cites research by Europol, which shows that cyber crime has grown on an ‘unprecedented scale’ over the past year.
Europol’s 2017 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) highlights ransomware as the most prominent threat – rising 750 per cent during 2016.
Phishing attacks rose 65 per cent from 2015 to 2016, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, and with 60 per cent of hacks relying on compromised credentials and social engineering (2017 IOCTA report), security awareness has become even more important.
The IOCTA report claims more than two billion records belonging to EU citizens were breached over the past year, mainly due to poor digital hygiene and practices.
Figures from Accenture also show that cybercrime cost large global companies an average of $11.7 million this year, a 23 per cent rise on the past 12 months.
Ricky Magalhaes, Head of Offshore Security at Logicalis, commented: “The new EU General Data Protection Regulations coming into effect in May mean organisations have to take data security much more seriously, auditing the data they store, defining how they process it, and tightening up all areas of IT security to prevent data being breached, damaged or leaked.
“Out of all the issues affecting cyber security, data protection has the biggest impact, as it has implications for everyone, across virtually all areas of an organisation.”
• Five trends that will shape cyber security in 2018 can be viewed here