WatchGuard Technologies has disclosed its cybersecurity predictions for the year 2024. The predictions, from the WatchGuard Threat Lab research team, anticipate a rise in attacks and trends in the information security sector and underline an array of emerging threats, such as harmful engineering tricks affecting large language models (LLMs), increased automation and unified security in managed service providers (MSPs), and vishers leveraging AI-based voice chatbots. The predictions also reveal likely attacks on modern VR/MR headsets, among other potential dangers.
"Every new technology trend opens up new attack vectors for cybercriminals," asserted Corey Nachreiner, the Chief Security Officer at WatchGuard Technologies.
As the threats businesses and individuals face in 2024 are expected to be even more "intense, complicated, and difficult to manage", the demand for unified security, automated platforms, and MSPs in reinforcing cybersecurity defenses has never been higher, particularly with an ongoing cybersecurity skills shortage.
The WatchGuard Threat Lab team's top predictions for cybersecurity in 2024 include an expectation that threat actors may exploit LLMs to manipulate them into revealing private data, contributing to operational efficiency.
MSPs and MSSPs are likely to enhance their security services via AI and machine learning automated platforms in response to an increasing demand amidst limited staffing resources. There is also a predicted surge in AI Spear Phishing Tool sales on the dark web in 2024.
Next year could also see a rise in AI-based vishing. A combination of LLMs and synthetic audio will potentially multiply the scale of vishing calls, which may not even necessitate human threat actor participation.
As VR/MR (Virtual and Mixed Reality) headsets gain popularity, the possibility of a malicious hacker or researcher accessing sensor data to reproduce user environments is predicted. An anticipated major headline hack in 2024 may be attributed to employees being directed by QR codes to harmful destinations.
WatchGuard Technologies has emphasised that the digital landscape is continually evolving, and the attacking guises used by cybercriminals will never cease to evolve.
With each technological trend and advancement, new opportunities and gateways for these malicious actors take shape. The cybersecurity firm urges businesses and individuals to stay vigilant, adopting robust, multi-faceted defenses to safeguard from such various, growing threats.