7 Emerging Technologies That Can Pose Major Threats To Cybersecurity

With only a few months left, 2019 has seen a slew of new emerging security threats. In the past year, citizens and government agencies have been attacked by hacks, data exposure, and breaches. iOS was found out to have flaws too and the US’s government agencies repeatedly have fallen victim to ransomware attacks.

Hackers have become better at accessing sensitive data. Sometimes they target new technologies and exploit the fact that users have not had enough time to get the hang of them, revealing plenty of holes in the security system.

So here are seven of new technologies that can be vulnerable targets for bad actors:

Deepfake Videos And Audios Generated By AI

The deepfake technology will enable people to change the nature of videos and audios in a very convincing way. It is true that a piece of that tech has been used for a good cause, like entertaining us with face swapping on Snapchat and Instagram.

As deepfake is becoming more like the real thing, cybersecurity experts worry that someday it will be used in phishing scams where hackers pretend to be someone else to trick people of their sensitive information.

Many companies are creating their own software to detect the products of deepfake, but they are currently in the infant stage of development.

Quantum Computing And Encryption Cracking

Back in September, the company behind the world's largest search engine, Google, claimed that it had reached something it called quantum supremacy, a quantum computer that actually works. This is quite a leap in the industry, but what Google built has not had any practical application yet.

However, this piece of news has already raised concerns among security watchdogs. The technology might someday break encryption, which is currently used to protect things like transactions with credit cards and blockchain.

While hackers have not yet made use of this technology yet, experts said that quantum computing would develop quickly, posing a threat to what banks have been keeping for several years.

5G Networks’ Vulnerabilities

5G has been rolled out in some parts of the world with a promise to bring faster speeds and support for a wide range of devices.

However, security experts warned that hackers might target the systems using 5G. The faster speed makes devices an easier target of DDoS, which send so much traffic to the victim’s server that it has to shut down.

The IoT Or “Internet Of Things”

The Internet of Things, networks for appliances and devices with access to the Internet to communicate with each other is now a thing in several industries.

As the technology becoming more common, hackers are discovering vulnerabilities in the IoT networks to exploit them to access the operations of companies. For example, Verizon fell victim to such an attack when bad actors compromised its networks to track the places the company would ship its most precious cargos.

Artificial Intelligence And Cybersecurity Systems

AI is proving its worth in changing our life for the better. However, hackers also find a use for it in breaking cybersecurity defenses. They can use the system operated by AI to find weaknesses or predictive text functions to trick people into giving away sensitive information. According to Nicole Egan, Darktrace's CEO of cybersecurity, they know that there will be a day when cybercriminals exploit AI and machine learning to carry out attacks. Early signs of that future have been detected.

High-Tech Functions Outsourcing And Supply-Chain Hacks

Supply chain hacks have been the cause of several recent data breaches. This trend grows in popularity as more companies choose to outsource services to third-party organizations, giving hackers a longer list of potential victims to target.

More Operational Functions Are Moving Online

As the Internet brings about lots of benefits, government agencies and companies alike are moving more of their operations online. However, the tradeoff here is security cost. If hackers succeeded in hacking one facet of the network that is connected to the internet, it is a matter of time for them to get to other devices on the same network.