Data breaches have become a common threat to cybersecurity today. Everyone is on the verge of thinking that nothing is safe on the Internet. Business organizations are at a higher risk than individuals as the companies suffer from financial losses and decline in market shares after becoming a victim of a major data breach. Considering the harsh reality, researchers have come up with some of the main online threats that jeopardize the user’s functions and privacy.

Presence of Ransomware in Cloud

The continuous attacks of Ransomware in computer systems have triggered a sense of fear in individuals’ and business firms’ minds.

• When it comes to breaking down Ransomware, it is noticed that it is a simple malware program that executes data breaches by locking down computer files. A lot of people are unable to go beyond the strong encryption that has been done over their files.
• When the files and documents are not stored in any other external device or cloud, the victims are compelled to pay the hacker for the digital key.
• With the demand payment, the malware became popular and the hackers were untraceable because they used the cryptocurrencies gateway for payment.

Moreover, the attacks on San Francisco’s light-rail network, healthcare organizations, and FedEx have compelled the developers to have a premonition that cloud computing systems might be under attack this year. People rely on storing and backing up files and important documents on the cloud now because it is an easier process to follow, not to mention it is safer too. Giant firms like IBM, Amazon, and Google have hired the best of digital minds in order to be immune to the severe problem.

Small companies offering cloud computing service might be at stake due to their incapability of fighting against data breaches. Also, hackers ask for huge payouts which small businesses can not afford.

Cyber-physical attack

Hackers could also harm the transportation system, critical infrastructure of the countries, and electrical grids because these are the most sensitive areas that can affect the general people and the government simultaneously. Immediate disruption of the service or usage of Ransomware could be the weapons used for executing such plans. Moreover, the victims will be compelled to pay to get out of the critical situation.

Attack with AI

Big firms have promised to do something extraordinary with AI this year and the hackers are susceptible to make use of the AI. Studies conducted by renowned companies have conjectured that neural network, AI technology, and machine-learning models are used for anticipating the attack. However, the firms are quite sure that the hackers will never use the techniques followed by the organizations and AI, unfortunately, this gives out the hackers a better opportunity to get back huge returns with a small investment.

• People need to be more alert for spear phishing because it tricks the users to install malware and then share confidential information.
• AI or machine-learning models have gained the idea of creating fake messages that look more convincing to anyone.
• Hackers might be more inclined to make use of this platform. Of course, the hackers will make sure that these fake messages will pass through the ‘sandbox’ challenge or any other security solution.

Organizations are likely to take help of IoT-based devices more than ever but this can pave a path for the hackers to plan more attacks. The cyber criminals might come with plans that can affect the IoT ecosystem along with a huge data breach. During the data breach, transparency violation is disclosed and the organizations are liable to face complaints from the customers.

As cryptocurrencies have been on the rise, the ethical hackers have developed the notion that cyber criminals now will be more inclined to attack the account holders of digital currency and Bitcoin. However, this might not be the biggest threat of the year; the most menacing one might still be at its inception.