The Google Cloud Cybersecurity Forecast 2024 report contains forward-looking thoughts from several of Google Cloud’s security leaders and dozens of experts across numerous security teams.
Technology advances, threats evolve, attackers change their tactics, techniques, and procedures, and defenders must adapt. The Google Cloud Cybersecurity Forecast 2024 report aims to help the cybersecurity industry frame its fight against cyber adversaries in 2024.
The following trends highlight what organizations and security teams need to consider in the coming year.
- AI: Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) will be utilized in phishing, SMS, and other social engineering operations to make the content and material (including voice and video) appear more legitimate.
- The Big Four: China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran cyber threat activity will continue to cause financial and safety concerns from disruptive and destructive attacks.
- Global forecast of concerns:
- Continued use of zero-day vulnerabilities (and edge devices)
- Cyber activity targeting U.S. elections
- Rise of disruptive hacktivism
- Wipers have become a standard capability in all nation-state cyber arsenals
- Targeting of space-based infrastructure
- Attacks targeting hybrid and multi-cloud environments mature and become more impactful
- Threat actors more heavily use serverless services in the cloud
- Extortion operations continue
- Espionage and “sleeper botnets”
- Revival of ancient techniques
- Continued migration to modern programming languages by malware authors
- Developers targeted in supply chain attacks via software package managers
- Growing prevalence of mobile cybercrime
- Cyber insurance premiums remain steady
- Consolidation around SecOps
The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, sometimes in new and unexpected ways. Defenders, often with limited resources, have the monumental task of keeping up.