Biggest Cybersecurity Threats Expected in 2024

In the past, you knew that the internet was dangerous. When you’re online, hackers have a way of controlling your device and stealing your info, but as long as you’re offline, while they could infect you with viruses (via CDs and such), they have no way of directly connecting.

In 2023, no one is ever truly offline. Sure, you can be without a network for a couple of minutes, but as soon as you pick up a nearby Wi-Fi, you’ll automatically connect.

The problem is that there are more hackers out there than ever before. More viruses, malware, phishing, and everything else, it seems that we’ve given more thought to these threats and kids putting strange CDs in our computers than adults clicking on unknown links.

Hypernormalization of this danger is not healthy, and here are some of the biggest cybersecurity threats we’ll likely face in 2024.

1. Collaboration tools

Collaboration tools are generally a weak point of any enterprise. This is because there are so many access points at any given moment. Most of your employees are logged onto the collaboration tool of your choice (Basecamp, Trello, Monday, etc.) from their home PC and work computer.

It takes just one slip, stolen phone, or device with a keylogger installed to leak. The thing is that with a BYOD system, there are so many devices in transit, and the majority of these devices are logged in by default. To say that this is disturbing would be an understatement.

So, what’s the solution to the problem? First of all, there’s the question of access control. If everyone has access to everything, it’s a disaster if a breach occurs. These platforms share all the schedules, contacts, and work data. When you limit access, you compartmentalize so that the loss of one part of data isn’t loss of it all.

2. Lack of corporate antivirus solutions

When it comes to the use of antivirus, people have a too-casual approach to this matter. The thing is that they have a free antivirus installed but just on their computer. Their smartphone and tablet (which contains just as much important data, if not more) have no such software installed.

Then, while the platform prevents them from entering suspicious sites or downloading suspicious files, it all comes down to their curiosity. The worst part is that many people are far too familiar with the “turn antivirus off for 15 minutes” option. What’s the point of a restriction if you’re going to subvert it every time it doesn’t let you do something reckless?

Then, there’s overestimating free antivirus platforms or underestimating corporate antivirus packages. Security for businesses is far more serious than security for individuals, and the choice of antivirus should reflect that. If you’re making your livelihood online, you shouldn’t downplay the improvement a paid plan will bring.

3. AI and DeepFakes

In the past, everyone believed biometrics would finally “solve” the cybersecurity puzzle. You must say the command, scan your retina, or more to solve the problem. However, AI voice generators and DeepFakes may have to take us a few steps back.

You’ve all seen the AI-generated videos of US presidents playing DnD with Joe Rogan as GM. The voices are there, and picking up mannerisms isn’t really that hard.

An NLP can even pick up on your speech and writing patterns, so it will be near-impossible to prove that it’s not you.

Another thing to worry about is user behavior analytics. The rate at which you scroll and your cursor movement is consistent for every user. The problem is that an AI-powered tool should have no trouble recreating this.

So, what’s the solution? There are many ethical safeguards for now, but even these can be avoided. Remember that one guy who asked ChatGPT to give him a list of torrenting sites? Then, when ChatGPT refused on ethical grounds, he asked the bot to give him a few such sites to avoid them if he ever encountered them. Sadly, it worked. Same as with people, ethical principles will only get you so far. We need stronger detection tools.

4. Introduction of 5G

There are so many things to understand about the 5G infrastructure before we can even start discussing all the cybersecurity concerns it’ll raise. The problem is that there’s still no pure 5G in most of the world. It still exists in conjunction with 4G network infrastructure.

This means that most IoT devices currently connect to 5G using 4G network infrastructure. This also means most security transmissions between devices and nodes are set in plaintext. Anyone who understands cybersecurity knows just how vulnerable this is to hacker attacks. Sure, this issue will soon be improved, but at the moment, the concerns are pretty real.

Then, there are all these international and diplomatic concerns, like the German government restricting the use of components from China in its 5G network and China threatening retaliation. While it will likely blow over and the compromise will be found, most people are still concerned with this and might want to sit it out until the matter is resolved.

5. Uncertainty of cyber insurance

When it comes to insurance, companies rely on it to cover any damages and expenses for many reasons. While general liability insurance covers most problems, businesses usually don’t find this kind of coverage suitable, which is why they go for more comprehensive insurance plans. In 2023/2024, one such specialist insurance is cybersecurity insurance. This innovative solution, however, has some flaws of its own.

6. IoT manipulation

Every device being connected to the internet is great until the moment someone hacks in and now has all your inventory levels, all your fleet routes, and control of all the locks on your warehouses.

Some of these threats are:

• Unauthorized access
• Device vulnerabilities
• Data privacy
• Botnets
• Denial of service (DOS)

The bottom line is that most of these threats are completely new. Sure, in the past, a hacker could switch off your computer or steal data you keep on your phone. Now, they can turn off your lights, lock your home, or unplug your fridge. The threat level is much higher, and you must take it far more seriously.

7. Misinformation and disinformation

Many companies rely on data to increase performance, but what if they’re fed inaccurate or deliberately incorrect information? The sad reality is that there’s far more false information in history than ever, and this fact is quite worrisome.

It’s getting worse. The ChatGPT4 prime number identification accuracy fell from 97.6% to 2.4% from March to June. Anecdotally, people are reporting that they’re getting worse answers than before.

So, suppose even a sophisticated NLP can be corrupted by bad data. What makes you think that simple BI (business intelligence) or even human employees would be impervious to such attacks?

The only solution would be for everyone to fact-check every piece of data more vehemently. Sure, it’s incredibly time-consuming (some would even say wasteful), but at the same time, it’s more than necessary.

We’re living digital lives in a digital world, so cybersecurity is of the highest priority

Some of these threats are new, and how they’ll be resolved is still unknown. These AI, 5G, and IoT challenges are a perfect example of this. However, other problems on this list can be summed up in a single phrase - people are not taking cybersecurity as seriously as they should. They’re sticking to the free antivirus when they should be paying for it (and even then, they’re turning it off whenever it tries to protect them). They’re reckless with their devices and public networks and generally uninterested. This has to change!

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)