The WEF Annual Meeting includes government leaders, businesses, and civil society addressing the state of the world, while also discussing the priorities of the year ahead.
“The most striking finding that we’ve found is that 93 percent of cyber leaders, and 86 percent of cyber business leaders, believe that the geopolitical instability makes a catastrophic cyber event likely in the next two years. This far exceeds anything that we’ve seen in previous surveys,” says WEF managing director Jeremy Jurgens during a presentation, highlighting the WEF Global Security Outlook Report 2023.
Adding to the unpredictability of the turn of events, Jurgens cited a recent cyberattack that was intended to disable Ukrainian military capabilities but inadvertently also shut down a portion of the production of energy across Europe.
In regards to this, Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General of Interpol, says that “This is a global threat[…]It calls for a global response and enhanced and coordinated action.”
According to him, the increased profit that various bad actors acquire from cybercrime should encourage world leaders into working in a collaborative manner, making it a top priority as they face "new sophisticated tools."
Albania Set to Combat Cybercrime
Albania, which recently experienced a significant cyberattack is now collaborating with larger allies to thwart the criminals, acting as a sort of laboratory for people to understand what is to come.
During the presentation, Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, illustrated on the industry's growth— from $3 trillion in 2015 to an anticipated $10.5 trillion in 2025. This, according to Rama means that if cybercrime were a state, it would have the third-largest global economy after the U.S. and China.
Expected Cybercrime Trends in the Next Two Years
Cyber threats are evolving at a faster rate, with cybercrime underground turning into an organized cybercrime ecosystem. In order to effectively combat these threats, it has become essential to stay up-to-date on the trends in cybercrime, which will eventually reflect its future status in the cyber world.
Here, we are listing some of the trends that are likely to be prevalent in cybercrime tactics in the coming years:
- Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning
AI and machine learning have the ability to boost attack automation, speed, frequency, and efficiency while also enabling the possibility of targeted attacks that are specifically aimed at particular groups. They might also speed up cyber detection, protection, and recovery systems from a cybersecurity perspective.
- Computing and Data Storage Technology
The innovation and immense usage of computing and data storage technologies in all sectors and services will eventually give threat actors more chances to exploit, gain unauthorized access to and disseminate illicit data.
- Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs)
Digitalized transactions could be manipulated for nefarious purposes, such as blocking them from being processed, since they are digitalized and processed by DLTs. DLTs may also be used to store inappropriate or disruptive content that is difficult to get rid of.
- Botnets and Automated Malware Deployment Tools
The rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), which is connecting more and more devices to the internet, is also giving a massive opportunity for threat actors to conduct malicious activities. The increasing inclination towards bots and automated malware deployment tools have as well contributed as an aid to the attackers. These inexpensive and easy-to-use tools lower the skill level barrier for hackers to launch attacks.