The Future of Cyber Security: 2020 Trends and 2021 Predictions
Summary
Mandiant Threat Intelligence predicts a continued rise in ransomware threats and their associated disruptions and costs through 2021. They also anticipate elevated cyber risks for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine distribution. The report highlights the trend of actors specializing in specific attack stages, making sophisticated tactics more accessible and increasing the difficulty of tracking threat activity.
IFF Assessment
The article predicts an increase in ransomware, elevated risks for critical industries, and more accessible sophisticated attack tactics, all of which pose growing threats to defenders.
Defender Context
Defenders should anticipate increased ransomware activity and focus on protecting critical infrastructure like healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. The trend of specialized threat actors suggests a need for better threat intelligence and attribution capabilities to counter increasingly sophisticated and diverse attacks.