What are some cyber threat trends that will likely dominate the landscape in 2023 and beyond? 

A new Intel 471 report, The 471 Cyber Threat Report; 2022-2023 Trends & Predictions, analyzes recent and commonly used tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) that prominent threat actors have adopted, how these threats have affected enterprises, along with predictive intelligence assessments on threats that organizations should be prepared to thwart over the next year.

The four key cybersecurity threats organizations need to be aware of include:

1. As prominent ransomware groups such as LockBit continue to offer evolving products with targeted services, vulnerabilities have reduced in quantity whilst increasing in severity. In fact, last year, several vulnerabilities accounted for some of the biggest threats faced by organizations.
2. World events have further complicated the threat landscape, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine acting as a catalyst for further polarization of the underground. The most prolific threat to date has been KillNet, a pro-Russian group that gained notoriety through orchestrating distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against pro-NATO countries and organizations.
3. Threat actors monetized criminal services to great success in 2022. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is a common security practice, and threat actors are turning to OTP bypass services to circumvent this layer of security. This area of the underground ecosystem will likely grow as demand increases for these services in the future. 
4. The use of information-stealers will continue into 2023; since the beginning of 2022, there has been a substantial uptick in offering when compared to the same period of 2021.

“Just as threat actors and groups are adjusting their methods to remain resilient against new and emerging security measures, organizations should be staying abreast of key TTPs employed by adversaries and adjusting their security systems based on that intelligence to tackle new and refined ways of being compromised,” says Intel 471 Chief Intelligence Officer, Michael DeBolt.

The 471 Cyber Threat Report includes a series of mitigation recommendations to help organizations and their security teams harden their security practices, detect potential threats, and isolate their sensitive information to avoid falling victim to new ransomware strains and malware. 

Download the full report here.