As 2017 comes to a close, Cymulate — a company that offers a breach and attack simulation platform — published its report "Recapping 2017's Biggest Cyber Trends and Predictions for 2018."
In a big year for cybercriminals, 2017 saw not only an increase in the number of attacks but also multi-vector techniques that used social engineering and ransomware to monetize. In fact, this past year, over 2 billion data records were compromised. Some notable hacks include the Equifax data breach that exposed the personal information of 14.5 million Americans; the National Health Service, which exposed 26 million patients' records; and pharmaceutical giant Merck, which attributed $600 million in losses to the NotPetya malware attacks.
Here are seven cybersecurity trends from 2017, according to the Cymulate report provided to Becker's Hospital Review.
1. Email was the most popular way malicious files penetrated an organization.
2. Drive-by and watering hole attacks, which target specific groups of users to infect their computers and gain access to the network, remain popular.
3. Hackers and hacking groups, like Shadow Brokers, use stolen National Security Agency hacking tools to carry out large-scale attacks, like WannaCry and NotPetya.
4. Ransomware made a global impact, with three main attacks — WannaCry, NotPetya and Bad Rabbit — causing stress to organizations across all industry sectors.
5. Verticals and industries became prime targets, specifically taking aim at the healthcare, governmental, and energy and utilities sectors.
6. New compliance regulations came into effect, while some were recently introduced.
7. New cybersecurity solutions have become popular.
To look ahead to cybersecurity in 2018, click here for eight predictions.
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