The new old in 2024 in the world of cyber security is the extremely fast developing artificial intelligence, expert and teacher Yasen Tanev reported to the DIGIPAY Blog. Its use, apart from protection, will be to abuse it and create even better and personalized letters, messages (SMS), photos, videos and sound that will look even more real. And unfortunately, the abuse of artificial intelligence will succeed in automating the process of sending it perfectly (time and emotional state) and taking control of the process.

Geopolitics also determines strategic goals. It probably won't surprise you, geopolitical interests are influential in setting trends. In the context of the world political map, the countries China, Russia, North Korea and Iran will continue to protect their strategic interests and carry out missions through their specialized groups. Bulgaria is part of the world and we are of interest to them at the business and state level. So, well-prepared and perfectly executed operations will be a cyber security risk and strongly influence the forecast for 2024.

Zero-day vulnerabilities are increasing and they are the target of all hacker groups

because their use can give an advantage and by breaking into systems they remain undetected inside the network and subsequently increase access to resources and information. And when we talk about zero threats, we don't just include vulnerabilities in programs or operating systems, they include smart devices in cities, homes and offices, our mobile phones, network devices and even multimedia projectors, TVs and connected devices. on the network printers.

What should we prepare for in 2024 and what will be the key events that could be affected?

Cloud centers and cloud services will continue to be a favorite target for hackers. The attacks will be directly against the service providers or their users, but the goal is the same - accessing data, extracting and encrypting it. And the consequence blackmail for ransom and loss of reputation. Our recommendation is to always encrypt data in the cloud. And always be ready to move to or leave another.

Attacks on software and hardware supply chains will increase in 2024. Secure development principles lag behind new product schedules. Open source is not always available from reliable sources, commercial libraries are hacked and infected. Programmers trust the code and fail to check it for changes. They just use it. This year, businesses and private users will be the indirect victims of software supply chains, and corporations will face the risk of going out of business or suffering damage.

That's why our advice to everyone is - be careful what software or components you use. Mistakes can be fatal. Update constantly.

Attacks on artificial intelligence - we users cannot yet understand how the systems work. Some of the developers using this technology also do not understand its essence

But those who are malicious have studied the weaknesses and will use them. Wondering how? They will use every opportunity to trick you into downloading a "free" product to access the paid versions. Through it, they will be able to access your data and even execute commands on your device. If they find a weakness in the logic of the AI they will infect (poison) it and affect its ability to generate relevant data or cause it to generate responses that are useful to the attacker.

Artificial intelligence is a product without which soon we will not be able to maintain our competitiveness, but as with cloud technologies, remember that it is not free, or if it is, you are the commodity.

2024 is not the year of the European elections - if there is an event that will be able to combine all weaknesses, threats, techniques and innovations in cybercrime, it will certainly be the European elections.

The battle for the European Parliament will be threatened by local groups and will be the focus of geopolitical games. Will Europe, European countries and administrations withstand the challenges?

High-speed Internet will connect more and more people, organizations and develop the digital society.

The 5G network will be a fact and will penetrate even deeper into the periphery outside the large administrative centers. The expansion of the network will include more users and a large part of them will not be ready and complete their digital transformation. This will open up a huge new space with low protection and low preparedness among users. Classic phishing techniques, malware, Trojan horse pirated software, worms and viruses, as well as scripts will flood users at risk and they will fall prey to well-known but new scams.

According to data from CERT.bg for registered incidents

Bulgaria is known for being the European leader in local malware infections

(faced by 30% of internet users, 2nd in Europe), malicious web-based attacks (15% of internet users).

Тази информация заедно със статистиката за актуалните заплахи през 2023 оформят устойчивия климат на кибер заплахите и пътя по, който се оформя устойчив е ефективен процес в полза на кибер престъпниците.

The combination of compromised e-mail, knowingly malicious or through non-compliance or ignorance violation of internal rules and policies (if any), and cloud mail services combined with malware and fraud (a form of social engineering) cover over 70% of successful attacks that have turned in accidents.

This foundation is so stable that we believe it will also be the foundation for threats to citizens, business organizations and government administration. While we must not of course overlook in the context of the geopolitical aspects the support of these actions with DDoS (denial of service attacks) and compromised supply chain security.

Beware of compromised business correspondence and altered IBANs, Tanev points out.

Don't leave it to chance and enable two-factor authentication on your email and social networks, he added. Another trick: backup in three places, on two different media, and always keep one copy in the cash register. Remember - risk is personal and must be understood. But the ability for common basic digital hygiene is possible, and the commitment of service providers and their security even greater (new EU directives and acts). A digital transformation is coming. Use it wisely.