CyberArk predicts Security Threats for 2014

For the year ahead, CyberArk has outlined its security predictions for 2014. 2013 has seen many high-profile security breaches, including the NSA-Edward Snowden case, involving the exploitation of privileged or administrator accounts. The theft, misuse and exploitation of privileged accounts has become an increasingly key tactic in each phase of an advance persistent threat (APT) attack cycle, and this will largely continue into 2014.

The revelations of the spying programs by the NSA, GCHQ, and other intelligence agencies have established a precedent how governments use the Internet and technology for national defence. More and more countries are expected to embrace and go beyond this approach – both in terms of passive surveillance and in aggressive cyber-attacks.  The major geopolitical players (the West, Iran, China and Russia) will continue to refine their cyber efforts, which will have a major impact on the powers of rogue nations and state-sponsored terrorist groups. As with Stuxnet, these attacks are dismantled and re-purposed – the attacks become commoditized and trickle down to the rogue elements. There will be more attacks of this nature occurring, for a wider array of reasons – economics, politics, and terrorism.

The report further reveals that the insider threat is ever present and hangs over every company. The Edward Snowden incident continues to reverberate across industries. Hence, there will be a much greater emphasis on the person aspect of insider threat prevention in 2014. Companies will spend more money and time on employee screening and monitoring, with a stronger focus on outsourced and contracted positions. A much greater emphasis on monitoring and controlling privileged users is also expected.