Hackers are constantly coming up with new ways to attack businesses and steal data or disrupt operations. During March alone, IT Governance listed 47 major ransomware attacks and data breaches against companies, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and school districts. Nearly 21 million records were leaked during these attacks.
One of the biggest ransomware attacks took down systems throughout the city of Atlanta, and the perpetrators demanded thousands of dollars in payments. Microsoft, Cisco, and the FBI had to get involved in the investigation. Another attack in March may have exposed the personal information of over 5 million ex-servicemen.
New Cyber Threats Create New Cybersecurity Needs
Artificial intelligence uses algorithms and programming to learn from past events and tailor programs to be more successful in the future. Unfortunately, even as security teams learn to use AI to detect security threats better, hackers may be using AI to develop more sophisticated and successful cyber attacks.
Hackers continually try to develop ways to thwart security protocols. One new technique is detecting “sandboxing” environment attempts; sandboxing aims to isolate and analyze malicious code to understand its operation and help prevent future infiltration in a production environment. Hackers are nowadays able to have the code wait until it confirms is not within a sandbox perimeter before executing, making it harder to protect the system and understand how malware works.
Targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices hasn’t been a top priority for hackers because the data they contain is usually encrypted and not valuable. But IoT devices are open to other vulnerabilities and can be herded and used on attacks against websites, the power grid, smart cars and other devices with the intention of shutting them down and disrupting society and people’s lives.
State-sponsored attacks have been notably few in recent years. However, more nations are acquiring the know-how and the infrastructure to launch these attacks in an attempt to disrupt U.S. operations.
Because threats like these are growing every day, cybersecurity professionals are in-demand at many companies and organizations. Each hacking attempt or data breach means an opportunity for IT professionals to protect against further security problems and address the cyber threats that loom on the horizon.
Cybersecurity is a growing field, and companies are having trouble finding enough professionals to meet their needs. Shortages of security personnel are expected to last well into the future, giving IT professionals with cybersecurity skills many opportunities for jobs with competitive salaries.
PC AGE offers students courses in cybersecurity that can even lead to certification in the field of IT security or ethical hacking, both of which can help to meet the security challenges faced by many organizations. With cyber threats growing and continually evolving, the need for cybersecurity professionals with the latest comprehensive training has never been higher. Request info about our programs and courses including those that provide cybersecurity training.
Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing