As 2020 looms, prepare to face cybersecurity threat actors with dollar signs in their eyes.

According to leading cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, hackers and cybersecurity criminals will up their game in 2020. Drawing on their experience through 2019, Kaspersky researchers have identified the key areas that these cyber attackers will target in 2020 and beyond.

The most important motivation would be financial gain. Hackers would, therefore, home in on investment apps, online financial data processing systems, and upcoming cryptocurrencies. Also likely to face attacks are banking infrastructure and mobile banking software.

Kaspersky on cybersecurity in 2020

Fintech has advanced rapidly and a lot of the growth may have sidestepped security priorities. Therefore, hackers are sure to notice the proliferation of mobile-based investment apps. Unless users use secure, two-factor authentication and protect their connectivity, cyber crooks could find these easy targets, says Kaspersky.

Mobile banking is also vulnerable. In 2019, Kaspersky found that the hacking code of Trojans and malware had been released on the dark web. There could now be new, more dangerous versions of these threats.

Moreover, in a significant escalation, hackers would now breach banking infrastructure and sell the modus operandi and access codes to other criminals. Is this the dawn of eCommerce in hacking products? Banks in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe could be most vulnerable.

Ransomware attackers could now have smaller banks and financial organizations in their cross-hairs. Their security may be easier to penetrate, and they would be ‘soft’ targets. They are likely and willing to pay up rather than face the adverse publicity or loss of data.

Ecommerce and JS-skimming

A huge new motherlode for scammers is JS-skimming or stealing payment card details from small, insecure online stores. Kaspersky has already identified ten such specialized crooks. Their number could proliferate in the days to come.

Other industries

Healthcare will become more preoccupied with protecting patients’ data. Companies that provide services such as e-commerce as-a-service could fall prey to scammers, leading to the compromise of thousands of companies. Corporate groups using the cloud extensively would be open to threats from within – criminals are now recruiting insiders into their nefarious operations – even through blackmail.

“With 2020 on the horizon, we recommend security teams in potentially affected areas of the finance industry to gear up for new challenges,” says Kaspersky.

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