Artificial intelligence is at the forefront of the digital revolution. One of the most important ways that AI is transforming our lives is through cybersecurity. AI has created both new benefits and challenges with cybersecurity, since both ethical and black hat hackers are using it to their advantage.
You need to know about the top cybersecurity trends in 2021 and how companies can safeguard their official data from hackers & other cyber goons. Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in fighting data breaches and malware distribution.
Lockdowns, bankruptcies, pandemics, business closures, layoffs and cyberattacks are just some of the crises that have erupted in the past year. Unfortunately, we have witnessed lots of tragedies in 2020. Due to the coronavirus crisis, businesses have embraced the concept of remote working, which has led to a number of other problems. They are starting to recognize that AI is going to be more important for solving these challenges.
As people have turned to remote working in huge numbers and hackers use new AI attacks against them, they are more vulnerable to different cyberthreats than ever. The year 2021 is just going to start, so numerous cybersecurity issues will continue to rise in the coming year.
AI Trends in Cybersecurity for 2020 and the Coming Year
This article will discuss some of the significant cybersecurity trends companies or organizations working in different sectors should not overlook in 2021 at any cost. Cybersecurity experts have started to use AI to address the growing threats of data breaches. According to polls, over 60% of companies in most industries use AI to fight against these risks.
However, there are other AI trends in cybersecurity, which warrant discussion. These AI cybersecurity trends include the following.
Remote working will become a new normal and new AI tools can create vulnerabilities
Even before the pandemic started, we talked about the AI tools that make remote working more feasible. These tools provide a lot of opportunities to streamline work, but they also create some security risks as well.
There is no denying companies have started implementing work from home policy to ensure their well-being worldwide. Cybersecurity challenges have also increased as people are no longer using corporate firewalls and other enterprise security systems to secure their official data.
In this situation, companies should look for enhanced cybersecurity tools that help them protect all their business communications, including sensitive corporate data when accessed remotely.
Therefore, they will need to use VPNs to protect their remote workers from different cyberattacks like hacking, data theft, phishing, etc. A VPN creates a secure and end-to-end encrypted connection over the internet.
Furthermore, it hides users’ actual IP addresses through alternate IP addresses of their choice like the UK, the US, Australia, Germany, and other countries. As a result, they can spoof their online locations from anywhere and protect their official online tasks alongside business data from hackers and other cybercriminals.
For that reason, companies can opt for NordVPN, a famous and top-performing VPN service to keep their remote workforce safe. If they do not know how to get NordVPN for free, they can try out its free trial feature.
By doing so, organizations can keep their networks secure and protect their remote workers from various cyber risks.
Continued rise in data breaches as more hackers use AI weapons against their targets
Surprisingly, a data breach is another area of concern for organizations as data breach costs $3.86 million on average. Sadly, this dangerous trend is expected to rise at a rapid pace in 2021. Organizations that do not allow limited access to their official data will experience data breaches more than companies that provide limited data access to their employees.
One of the reasons that these attacks have become more common is that hackers are using more sophisticated AI tools to orchestrate them. Cybersecurity experts need to be aware of these risks and have their own AI tools to thwart them.
Endpoint management
Endpoint management is the process in which organizations perform detailed processes that let them detect, deploy, troubleshoot and update their endpoint devices. From an organizational perspective, managing endpoints is extremely crucial because cybercriminals can use these endpoints to access companies’ networks.
When organizations start performing endpoint management processes, they can protect their remote employees. Moreover, they can automate provision and compliance to a certain degree.
Phishing attacks will increase in 2021
Email phishing attacks can harm the privacy of remote employees a great deal. Hence, employers need to provide their remote workforce with basic cybersecurity training that will prevent them from clicking suspicious email links.
If they are not aware of the severity of phishing attacks, the chances are that they might end up compromising their official data. Apart from phishing attacks, remote employees should follow other steps that allow them to secure their online official tasks.
These steps could be the use of strong or complex passwords, implementing 2 factor authentication, installation of antivirus software on their devices and so on.
Artificial Intelligence
The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will evolve in 2021. As far as the notion of Artificial intelligence goes, it combines both machine learning and human creativity to provide practical solutions to organizations worldwide.
On the contrary, AI (Artificial Intelligence) does have its negative consequences that organizations need to be aware of. You can contemplate such consequences in the shape of privacy loss, lack of control over automated systems and robots, etc.
In this scenario, the role of responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in handy. This is because it ensures the transparent and practical use of AI technologies that correlate with organizational values, users’ demands and societal norms too.
Apart from this, the responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps you take decisions based on rationale and critical thinking. Additionally, it prevents companies from using biased data that can influence users’ trust and their privacy.
If organizations are able to understand the true potential of responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI), they can overcome different security risks like loss of privacy, insufficient control over robots and others comprehensively.
AI is Playing a Role in More Cybersecurity Trends in the Coming Year
AI is a double-edged sword for cybersecurity. Summing up, organizations will need to develop robust IT infrastructure and AI defenses to cope with the upcoming cybersecurity challenges in 2021. IT infrastructure aside, companies should educate their remote employees about online security, including protecting corporate data.
Similarly, they should know how they can safeguard the digital assets of their companies while working remotely. All these cybersecurity trends mentioned above are expected to rise. Therefore, only those organizations or businesses will survive who would follow or apply effective cybersecurity measures to combat various cybersecurity issues lurking on the internet.