A long time ago, people conducted thievery via bank heists, breaking and entry, highway robbery, and mugging. But we can accurately say that the advent of technology has also changed how people rob; they now do so through sophisticated cyber-attacks, hence the need for cybersecurity.

Cyber-attack has become such a worrisome threat and impending doom that the global cybersecurity industry is now worth over 160 billion USD

However, different areas of the industry are growing at disparate rates, with each company trying to come up with innovative ways to rise above the challenge. And although these businesses are digitizing their processes more stringently, we cannot deny the fact that cyber-attacks continue to increase at an alarming rate.

The IT sector is, however, not asleep in the light of this. Knowing what's at stake if businesses crumble in the hands of hackers, the cybersecurity industry is evolving new trends to stand up to these sophisticated attacks.

Below are some new cybersecurity trends companies should watch out for in 2021.

Proactive adaptation to emerging threats

IT teams have been trying to adapt to the cyber regulatory changes for years now due to the growing number of cyber threats. And then the coronavirus pandemic came -- a period which has seen an alarming increase in the number of attacks. This increase has caused security regulations and practices to become even more expensive. And consequently, IT security teams and their clients would have to make hard choices in light of the situation to develop efficient solutions to counter the danger that stares them in the face.

Companies are getting more proactive in protecting themselves from cyber threats. In addition to taking defensive measures, organizations are looking for managed IT specialists to provide them with offensive capabilities as well.

As a business owner, it becomes advisable for you to have separate dedicated IT teams, whether in-house or remote. While one team monitors your infrastructure to keep your business processes running, another team should coordinate incident response and execute round-the-clock detection of threats and spyware.

In light of this, we can safely say there will be a rapid expansion of security operations and innovations in AI cyber threat detention, reporting, and combating.

Adaptable tools to combat brute force efforts

The evolving trend has now seen the age-long brute force come back into action. Hackers who understand the capability of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) in infiltrating corporate networks have begun utilizing these systems to launch brute force attacks. There was up to a 12% uptick in such attacks in the second half of last year.

Companies using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) are at an even greater risk because attacking SNMP involves simply exploiting commonplace corporate devices like routers and modems. Once the network is compromised, the attackers are fully into the system, far beyond the firewalls' reach.

Organizations looking to protect themselves from DDoS attacks will have to invest in more agile, innovative, and adaptable tools designed to detect, isolate, and nullify such brute attacks as soon as they launch.

More companies are getting cyber essentials certified

Although the Cyber Essentials scheme was launched in June 2014, more UK companies are now adopting it more as the cyber threat continues to grow. When your company receives a  cyber essentials certification, you get protection against many of the most basic attacks. Why the simple ones?  Because exposure to such simple threats identifies your security as a weak spot, encouraging hackers to launch more sophisticated attacks your way! Cyber Essential is a scheme that shows companies how to protect their organizations from those common attacks.

Older cybersecurity trends are returning

Cybercriminals acknowledge the fact that trends come and go, and people forget all about them. Trojan horses and botnets that once trended are now entirely out of people's minds. This leaves many of them prone to such attacks and malicious software.

To counter this risk, organizations must realize that they still exist and must be proactive in training their team in detecting these attacks as soon as possible. You can start by going over commonplace carriers like malicious emails and web links. It also involves ensuring each staff member down to the lowest hierarchy understands how to monitor their email accounts, be wary of suspicious activities, and report as soon as they notice anything.

Prioritizing user-friendliness

With how evolved cyber threats have become and the consequent complications they have brought on cyber regulations, businesses are now looking for ways to make their enterprise applications and services more user-friendly.

It has, therefore, become particularly essential for security providers to find solutions that cover legacy and digital systems in a way that is easy to understand. And we can see how much such systems are needed in the growing demand of companies requiring their data loss prevention providers to create easy-to-use solutions.

Therefore, such security personnel would have to come up with new strategies and products designed to function on the cloud. This new trend would require some considerable investments from companies.

Security-focused leadership

Business executives are getting more focused on cybersecurity more than ever before. Prior to this time, the greater focus was on IT services and infrastructure, among others. Companies must now look towards hiring competent staff, whether in-house or outsourced, to execute intensive security management. But while looking at hiring, these businesses must consider how much expert know-how these security providers require to offer nothing less than is expected (keeping the organization's landscape safe).

Consequently, we would be looking at a growing number of companies seeking security management consultancy for guidance on choosing and managing their hired security team for improved cybersecurity.

Bottom Line

As cyber-attacks like phishing, drive-by-attack, password attack, and DDoS continue to increase, the need to improve on cybersecurity will keep on growing as well. Executives are becoming more enlightened about the relevance and application of cybersecurity and are quickly harnessing several protective measures like the Cyber Essentials scheme.

If one should ask if the threats will dissipate due to this growing awareness, the answer will likely be no. Cyber attackers will always look for more innovative ways to launch, while security providers will develop new strategies to combat. Consequently, we will see newer cybersecurity trends in the years to come.