What to Know About Threats in 2022

It cannot be stressed how important it is to prepare your company for online attacks in 2022. It only takes one mistimed breach to send your staff, clients, systems, and bottom line into a tailspin that you may never recover from.

There are some threats like ransomware and DoS attacks that we will always be looking out for, but the creativity of hackers adds to the list of potential maliciousness each year.

Here is a list of things to be prepared for in 2022.

Supply chain attacks. This is about the ripple effect of attacks. A breach can no longer just affect your organization, but all the partners, providers, and customers included in your supply chain. The threats to look for in 2022 according to Check Point, a cybersecurity software provider, are breaches and malware infections.

Misinformation campaigns. It doesn’t have to be related to foreign affairs or a political rivalry to affect you. Misinformation about your products, services, or industry can be a threat to your organization’s well-being. Look for trends on social media and engage in a “truth” campaign as needed to combat any negative fallout from bad info.

Mobile malware attacks. The growing use of mobile devices, coupled with an increased remote workforce, makes mobile malware something to keep an eye on. In 2021 alone, almost 50% of all businesses audited by Check Point had at least one employee who inadvertently downloaded a corrupted or malicious mobile app.

Unaware employees. Probably the most common cybersecurity missteps of all are weak employee passwords or simple human oversight. In fact, a study done jointly by Stanford University and Tessian, revealed that 88% of all breach incidents are caused by the mistakes of employees. Attackers know this and do phishing campaigns and more to exploit this very thing.

As we move into next year, it will be important to educate your staff on the basics of strong passwords, along with an overall awareness of other threats that exist and how to avoid them. But that’s just the start. Leaders need to stress test their plans to ensure that they have things like social engineering, penetration testing, and ransomware preparedness covered.