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Learn more about the three near-term phases we expect to see in the cybersecurity space.
We predict how the stimulus bill will affect investment in cybersecurity and new technology.
Visualize Cybersecurity’s Biggest Events: Explore 100+ pages of cyber attacks and innovations dating back to before you turned on your first computer. The more we learn about yesterday’s attacks, the better we can defend against tomorrow’s threats.
Learn more about the three near-term phases we expect to see in the cybersecurity space. This a segment from the recorded webinar, "Is Cybersecurity Virus Resistant? Click below to view full webinar.
You're viewing a segment from the recorded webinar, "Is Cybersecurity Virus Resistant? Click below to view full webinar.
"Expect a significant increase in ransomware attacks against municipalities and educational systems as their attention is not on security and their attack surface has grown significantly due to work from home."
Bradley Rager Optiv Chief of Staff, SVP Strategic Execution
"There will be increased demand for cybersecurity education as people look to pivot into more resilient industries with longer term growth potential."
Dan Burns Optiv Executive Advisor & Board Member
Dave DeWalt Founder and Chairman, Momentum Cyber and Optiv Board Member
Hear our predictions for cybersecurity job hunters during a pandemic. For more predictions on COVID's effect on the cybersecurity sector, watch the webinar, "Is Cybersecurity Virus Resistant?"
Barry MacLaughlin Senior Director of Talent Acquisition
What innovations will we see? Stronger SASE capabilities, especially around Compliance and Data Protection What trends will accelerate? Cloud First (w/ SASE and Zero Trust enabling more secure remote access) What will stop/become less of a focus? Corporate Data Centers
Optiv Employee Client Solutions Architect II
How will cybersecurity job hunters fare during COVID?
Optiv Predictions 6 of 10
Optiv Predictions 7 of 10
Optiv Predictions 8 of 10
Optiv Predictions 10 of 10
Optiv Predictions 9 of 10
Optiv Predictions 5 of 10
Optiv Predictions 4 of 10
Technology Trends to Anticipate:
Optiv Employee Client Solutions Advisor
Initially Split-Tunneling to reduce VPN Traffic; but later embracing SASE completely. Higher adoption of Automation, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and SOAR technologies
Higher adoption of Biometrics and Passwordless authentication mechanisms, FIDO2, and expedited adoption of Zero-Trust philosophy. Necessity for strong End-to-End encryption for all communication; and therefore higher adoption of SSL Inspection mechanisms Standardization of Containers (e.g. Kubernetes).
Optiv Predictions 3 of 10
More adoption of Tele-Medicine More adoption or complete shift to E-Learning and Distance Learning Higher adoption of Robotics, Drone Technologies, etc
Increase in Automated Services (through apps and machines, as opposed to interacting with humans) Adoption of 5G and proliferation of IoT devices to build Smart cities of interconnected infrastructure. Adoption of Virtual Reality and Virtual Augmentation
General Industry Trends that we will likely see (across the board):
"Budgets are down, threats are up, but over time as we come out of COVID, this will be another super growth window for cybersecurity."
Dave Dewalt Founder and Chairman, Momentum Cyber and Optiv Board Member
Optiv Predictions 2 of 10
Breaches that include mobile devices in the attack campaign will likely continue to increase. Click the image above to learn more.
A Visual History of Cybersecurity Executive Director, Information Security
Taking a look back in order to continue forward
Optiv Predictions 1 of 10
"If we start [mobile voting efforts] now, we could conceivably have beta tests running in cities, counties and states in 2024, with the prospect of deploying it nationally in 2028."
Kunal Anand Chief Technology Officer (CTO) | Imperva
Optiv Predictions 2 of 11
JUNE
COVID-19 Events
Cybersecurity Impact
6/10/20
As airlines devise strategies on how to properly reopen, they must ensure the security of a large number of wireless devices, including in-flight entertainment systems, electric flight bags, IoT devices and other Wi-Fi connectivity systems installed on the plane.
source: AT&T
TIMELINE: COVID-19 IMPACT ON CYBERSECURITY
Expert insight on best practices to take now and in the future.
Updated Friday, July 17
Share:
A Visual History of Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Predictions
Dec 2019 - Mar 2020
Aug 2020
OptivCon Virtual On-Demand
Pre-Recorded Webinar: Relive the June 11 virtual conference to hear Dave DeWalt, Gen. David H. Petraeus, Adm. Michael Rogers and other industry leaders discuss the current state and future challenges for cybersecurity in a post-pandemic world.
Phishing Attacks
Email is the delivery mechanism for 96% of phishing attacks.
6/8/20
Responding to criminal schemes seeking to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic has become the primary investigative focus for the Secret Service
source: The Washington Post
Email
Non-Email
Help Create Confidence for a More Connected World
Demand for cybersecurity professsionals is on the rise in the wake of COVID-19, and Optiv is no exception. See Our Open Positions
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, says that government will lift all COVID-19 restrictions except border controls almost immediately after report of zero cases in the country.
source: The Guardian
6/1/20
Colorado Health Officials Now Expect a Bigger Second Wave of Coronavirus than the First
source: CBSN Denver
It's Time To Be A Leader
General Petraeus goes through his four step process for dealing with crises amid COVID-19.
6/16/20
Will COVID-19 be a catalyst for cybersecurity leadership? The challenge for government's information security executives is to integrate risk-mitigating technology into core services and processes — and to play the long game.
source: e.Republic
Leadership during crises at OptivCon. This is a clip from our June OptivCon Virtual webinar. To view the full webinar, click below.
General Petraeus:
COVID-19: Overcoming an Abundance of Cybersecurity Caution
View Webinar
6/22/20
A dozen states have seen record highs of new COVID-19 cases since Friday. The states that saw the incraease were Florida, Texas, Utah, South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, California, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
source: ABC News
Cybersecurity Field Guide #1
This guide helps you navigate cybersecurity’s complexities in a world where new innovations and threats, such as pandemics, can create new normals.
The Cybersecurity Field guide helps you assess where your organization stands and how to identify common threats. Learn the latest tools and strategies, as well as what’s on the horizon with remote work and talent demands post-COVID.
See Details
6/24/20
NY, NJ and CT require travelers from states with high coronavirus rates to quarantine for two weeks.
source:CNN
SEE PREVIOUS UPDATES
Continue to May
Jump to March
JULY
Apr 2020 - May 2020
Jun 2020 - Jul 2020
Sep 2020
Oct 2020
Nov 2020
Dec 2020
Jump to Month
12/31/19
A pneumonia case of unknown cause in Wuhan, China is reported to the WHO.
source: WHO Timeline - COVID-19
DECEMBER
1/7/20
Chinese researchers identify a novel coronavirus, later named COVID-19.
source: World Health Organization
1/11/20
First reported death from COVID-19.
source: New York Times
1/13/20
First case of COVID-19 outside of China confirmed in Thailand.
1/21/20
First reported case in the US.
source: The New England Journal of Medicine
Curious about pre-COVID predictions? See what experts in 2019 anticipated for 2020.
The Top Six Cybersecurity Trends for 2020
Organizations are rushing to enable remote access for their staff as many cities, counties and states move towards a shelter-in-place mandate.
~10% of workers worked from home before COVID
1/29/20
MUMMY SPIDER distributes Emotet malware via Japanese-language spam mimicking a public health center.
source: Crowdstrike
1/30/20
COVID-19 outbreak is declared a public health emergency of international concern.
JANUARY
2/2/20
Nation-state actors reported to use COVID-themed lures.
source: ZDNet
Cybersecurity Must be C-suite Business
"...CEOs, corporate board members, CISOs, and other executives have to make cybersecurity 'C-suite business' in order to ensure their companies secure what they have, while enabling continuous business and operational change and keeping pace with ever-changing threats in order to identify and thwart would-be hackers and respond rapidly to malicious activity."
General David Petraeus United States Army (Retired) Partner, KKR Chairman, KKR Global Institute Optiv Board Member
source: www.optiv.com/blog
Criminals Pretend to be WHO
Suspicious email messages appearing to be from WHO attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 emergency.
2/15/20
WHO Director General calls on the international community to stand together at the Munich Security Conference.
source: WHO, Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
2/28/20
RSA conference proceeds as planned despite some large companies (including IBM, AT&T and Verizon) pulling out at the last moment.
source: RSA Conference
2/29/20
First recorded COVID-19 death in the US.
source: CDC
FEBRUARY
A VPN rationing schedule can be established where employees are either directed or restricted to access the VPN during known windows based on their job function.
WFH numbers shift from ~10% to 80%
Is Cybersecurity Virus-Resistant?
Optiv and Momentum Cyber have partnered for an on-demand webinar that shines light on COVID's impact to cybersecurity.
3/9/20
Reason Labs researcher identifies a malicious "Coronavirus map" app using AZORult to steal information and download additional malware.
source: Reason Security
3/11/20
WHO declares COVID-19 a Pandemic.
Institute a mandatory update policy on mobile devices that access your network.
Use security software on all computers in the organization.
Protect your accounts by using multi-factor authentication.
1
2
3
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
source: https://www.optiv.com/blog/22-ways-protect-yourself-against-phishing-attacks
3/20/20
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center warns of a rise in fraud due to COVID-19, including fake CDC emails, phishing attempts and counterfeit treatments and equipment.
source: IC3
MARCH
Address your short-term surge needs while building long-term expertise.
4/1/20
Microsoft warns hospitals about the risks of ransomware attacks due to insecure VPN devices and gateways.
source: Microsoft
4/4/20
COVID-19 case count tops 1 million.
Work from home numbers skyrocket. What to think about to protect your network.
Half of America is Working From Home
4/3/20
CFOs plan to permanently shift significant numbers of employees to work remotely.
source: Forbes
Take the time to set up a good working environment. What are the key components you should make sure you have.
4/7/20
source: Bleeping Computer
Fake Zoom installers identified which bundle legitimate installer with malware.
Security Hardening Checklist
Harden Your Security Operations
Train staff on current lures, disable downloads/redirects contained in emails and use multi-factor authentication on accounts.
4/16/20
Google blocks 18 million COVID-related malware and phishing emails per day over the previous week.
source: Talos Intelligence
4/30/20
Several phishing campaigns were discovered in the last week of April, leveraging the Family and Medical Leave Act, small business disaster relief funds and parcel delivery services to deliver malware.
source: Securityintelligence.com
source: https://www.optiv.com/ blog/five-rs-phishing
Report
Recognize
React
Review
Read
4
5
The Five R's of Phishing Scams
APRIL
5/01/20
Macy's announces they will reopen 68 stores in states which have lifted restrictions. With state and local approval and improvement in COVID-19 rates, they plan to reopen the rest of their 775 stores by mid-June.
source: USA Today
5/06/20
United States and United Kingdom security agencies identify hacking campaigns by advanced persistent threats targeting healthcare and medical researchers fighting the coronavirus.
source: CISA
MAY
Pre-Recorded Webinar: Relive the May 7 virtual conference and learn how to reduce enterprise risk and realize stronger, simpler cybersecurity programs.
5/13/20
The gap between cybersecurity risk and defensive effectiveness is as wide as it’s ever been for most companies.
Apply lessons learned during COVID-19 to your long-term cybersecurity strategy.
Panel Discussion
How COVID-19 is driving cloud consumption to new levels.
The Growing Cloud
Cyber criminals use social engineering attacks that prey on emotions.
Social Engineering On the Rise
source: https://youtu.be/ddrp4dkKm7A
Simple steps to help protect businesses from COVID-themed Vishing attacks.
Protect Your Clients from Vishing Attacks
This is great news for CISOs who like to stay busy.
Remote Work is Here to Stay
Opportunities Ahead
Massive shifts in enterprise and consumer preferences present ample opportunities for cybersecurity innovation.
Fraudsters use COVID-19 to target younger generations
source: Security Magazine
Data Protection
Protecting your data in a time of massive digital disruption.
5/18/20
The Global Cybersecurity Market Assessment for 2020 predicts growth deviations due to COVID-19 and places the market at $230 Billion in 2021.
source: Business Insider
A dozen states have seen record highs of new COVID-19 cases since Friday, an ABC News analysis has found.
source: CNN
Job hunting during a pandemic? Here are our predictions for the cybersecurity space.
What innovations will we see? Stronger SASE capabilities, especially around Compliance and Data Protection What trends will accelerate? Cloud First (w/ SASE and Zero Trust enabling more secure remote access)
Breaches that include mobile devices in the aack campaign will likely continue to increase. Click the image below to learn more.
Predictions
Cybersecurity Field Guide #1 helps you assess where your organization stands and how to identify common threats. Learn the latest tools and strategies, as well as what’s on the horizon with remote work and talent demands post-COVID.
A VisUal History
new ebook
December 2019 to March 2020
Back to Business (Part 1)
Best practices to get employees backup to speed when returning to the office
7/10/20
With offices re-opening many employees are bringing their personal devices back into the office. What can you do to protect your business while allowing WHF devices on your company networks?
source: DARK Reading
Brian Wrozek | VP, Corporate Security, Risk and Compliance Management and Physical Security @ Optiv
Remember Your BYOD Policies
COVID has potentially forced a relaxation of BYOD security policies (but hopefully only temporarily).
Peter shares his prediction concerning the new hybrid WFH model many companies are adopting.
Peter Gregory Executive Director, Information Security
How will companies apply WFH after COVID-19?
Back to Business
Best practices to get employees backup to speed when returning to the office.
Optiv director shares his prediction concerning the new hybrid WFH model many companies are adopting.
Follow these tips to create a good work from home (WFH) environment for yourself. Learn more from a WFH veteran, who offers tips on maximizing productivity while promoting physical and emotional well-being.
In times of need or crisis, it can be challenging to know who to turn to for extra support. External staffing and technology can ensure immediate, short-term business continuity or be used to help you build your in-house expertise.
Surge Support
This paper explores the broad sets of technology challenges we are observing today and offers potential solutions for key areas of security concern.
This checklist provides actionable steps security teams can take toward achieving short and long-term priorities.
COVID-19: Hardening Security Operations
As 2019 came to a close, we presented our ideas on what threats the industry would face – and not just ransomware and phishing attacks, but new, hard-to-combat threats.
Work from home numbers skyrocket. What to think about to protect your network. You're viewing a segment from the recorded webinar, "Is Cybersecurity Virus Resistant? Click below to view full webinar.
Todd Weber Optiv CTO, Americas
Apply lessons learned during COVID-19 to your long-term cybersecurity strategy. This is a clip from our May OptivCon Virtual webinar. To view the full webinar, click below.
Panel Discussion:
How Covid-19 is driving cloud consumption to new levels. This is a panel discussion from our May OptivCon Virtual. To view the full webinar, click below.
SASE adoption to accelerate; secure, SaaS-delivered network connectivity and secure cloud access is increasingly important Home routers and endpoints are viewed as part of the enterprise security stack as the home network is the new perimeter
Our Predictions
Click for more Post COVID-19 cybersecurity opportunities.
Suspected Fraud Increases Post-Pandemic Declaration
We live in a hyper-connected and constantly shifting world of people, applications, devices and data. Growth in cloud adoption, mobile devices and the consumerization of IT expands the digital footprint in highly dynamic and unpredictable ways, increasing cybersecurity risk.
Click for more of the Optiv Data Protection Webinar
Data Protection Tips:
"Here in the US primarily there’s a lot of emotion and social media debate and the response to that. It’s an election year as well. It’s going to be a real emotional rollercoaster. Cybercriminal organizations are aware of this. Social engineering attacks pray on emotions where we are clicking with our heart instead of our head."
View Video
Peter Gregory Optiv Director, Information Security
This quote is from the video discussion, "Securely Supporting the Remote Worker." Click below for the full video.
When we consider that remote work was trending up even before COVID, it’s reasonable to expect that number to continue climbing for the foreseeable future – perhaps dramatically.
Cyber criminal organizations take advantage of social engineering attacks that prey on emotions.
Recognize One must be aware to avoid the snare.
React One must slow phishing traction with the appropriate action.
Report One must share to clear the air.
Review One must look beyond the lines and see the signs.
Read One must give a thorough look to avoid the hook.
SEE OTHER MONTHS
Go Back to Latest Updates
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This checklist provides actionable steps security teams can take toward achieving short-and long-term priorities.
Work from home (WFH). It does take time to adjust. A WFH veteran offers tips on maximizing productivity while promoting physical and emotional well-being.
Optiv Surge Support
We live in a hyper-connected and constantly shifting world of people, applications, devices and data. Growth in cloud adoption, mobile devices and the consumerization of IT expands the digital footprint in highly dynamic and unpredictable ways, increaseing cybersecurity risk.
More than 50 years of milestones and lessons: Where cybersecurity has been and where it’s going. Click the image below to learn more.
More than 50 years of milestones and lessons: where cybersecurity has been and where it’s going. Click the image above to learn more.
source: https://www.optiv.com/blog/2019-cyber-threat-intelligence-estimate-security-must-be-strategic
Approximately 10% of workers worked from home before COVID
1/9/20
source: WHO
Nation-state actors reported to use COVID-themed lures
WFH numbers shift from ~10% to 80%. Create a VPN Rationing Schedule
Is Cybersecurity Virus Resistant?
Go Back to May
Register
July 16: Please join us to hear Julie Talbot-Hubbard (VP, Identity and Access Management, Optiv) and three of our partners discuss Identity and Data Management in a time of rapid change. You will learn how to reduce enterprise risk and realize stronger, simpler and less costly cybersecurity programs.
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