The Center for Strategic and International Studies compiled a list of significant cyber incidents dating back to 2003. Compiling attacks on government agencies, defense and high-tech companies or economic crimes with losses of more than a million dollars, this list reveals broader trends in cybersecurity for the past two decades. And, of course, there are the headline breaches and supply chain attacks to consider.
Over recent years, what lessons can we learn from our recent history — and what projections can we make about the future of data security?
Cybersecurity Trends of the Last Decade
Let us look back at the macro trends of the last decade:
Frequency and Distribution
The 2010s saw rapid growth in cybersecurity activity from both good (investment) and bad (attack) actors. Cyberattacks are not new, but today they are ubiquitous.
Sophistication and Creativity
Evolution of design, intent and purpose. Past attacks were major nuisances, but today, attacks can also be targeted, destructive and meant to evoke emotion and panic. Smash-and-grab certainly existed, but the bad folks are demonstrating innovations.
Multiple Approaches
Attacks come in all shapes and sizes nowadays: malware, spyware, ransomware, man-in-the-middle (MitM), hybrid (e.g., social engineering), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), phishing (including targeted attacks such as pretexting and spearphishing), cryptojacking and supply chain/third party attacks. Remember, tools used for efficiency also have weaknesses.
Treasure Troves and Earning a Profit
Many of the attacks target massive databases of personal records. Similarly, many attacks (specifically of the learn recent cyber history
