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Security Think Tank: Prioritise multifactor authentication in 2019
At the close of 2018, we asked CW Security Think Tank contributors to name one thing predicted for 2018 that did not happen, one thing that was not predicted but did happen, and one thing that should happen in 2019 but probably will not
One thing predicted for 2018 that did not happen
We predicted that attackers might target cyber insurance firms to learn who had pay-out policy coverage in order to infect them with ransomware. This did not happen at all.
One thing that happened in 2018 that was not predicted
We did not predict that there would be a big increase on cryptomining malware – especially web-based cryptojackers – but this emerged as one of the most popular cyber criminal activities in 2018. We were close in that we had a cryptocurrency-based prediction for 2018, which suggested that hackers would exploit a cryptocurrency based vulnerability and cause that currency to crash, but it was not around the increase in cryptominers.
One thing that should happen in 2019, but probably will not
Every company, regardless of size – from the smallest to largest enterprise – should adopt multifactor authentication (MFA) in 2019. This definitely should happen for their own protection, but I suspect there will be many laggards, despite the fact that today’s MFA solutions are much easier and less expensive.
