WatchGuard Cybersecurity Predictions 2021

Posted December 16, 2020

2020 was an incredible year for advancements in cybersecurity threats, protections, and changes in trends. But the year also seemed determined to make an impact on history through its sequence of rolling disasters. In many regards, life and business may never be the same as they were “pre-pandemic.” For better or worse much of what 2020 delivered is likely here to stay — at least at some level. On the technology and cybersecurity front, the most significant 2020 highlights we witnessed include:

WatchGuard completed their acquisition of Panda Security bringing advanced endpoint protection and threat hunting to the masses.
Working from home became the new normal for many which ultimately became work from anywhere.
The year brought a significant surge in ransomware finding our schools under attack along with many healthcare providers.
The election brought with it cyber attacks targeting political parties, candidates, their consultants, and think tanks.
And even industry-leading security firms had significant breaches.

With 2020 nearly behind us, WatchGuard took a moment to prognosticate what changes we’ll see to the threat landscape in 2021. You can read all of WatchGuard’s predictions but we’ve highlighted a few of the more threatening forecasts below.

Automation Drives Tidal Wave of Spear Phishing Campaigns

Automation will allow hackers to launch spear-phishing campaigns at record volumes. The new automation techniques will streamline the attacks allowing more efficient data collection on users across social media and corporate websites. The result will be an incredible surge in spear-phishing attacks that are highly believable and highly successful. Train your users on how to spot phishing emails and build awareness as a key component to your defense.

Attackers Swarm VPNs and RDPs as the Remote Workforce Swells

WatchGuard predicts attacks against VPNs and RDPs will double in 2021 as a result of the continued shift towards work-from-home. These attacks will lead to an increase in corporate network breaches through the often less secure home networks. Now is the time to secure your employees’ home Wi-Fi and your corporate VPNs.

Attackers Pinpoint Security Gaps in Legacy Endpoints

Legacy systems such as Windows 7 will continue to see a rise in attacks as they remain unsupported by Microsoft but still in widespread use within organizations.

Every Service Without MFA Will Suffer a Breach

With billions of usernames and passwords widely available on the dark web, credentials will remain easy for attackers to guess and WatchGuard predicts every service without multi-factor authentication will suffer a breach in 2021. Strong authentication is the cornerstone to good security. We already know that strong passwords are not enough to protect your data and systems. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) remains the only true security measure available to fight against authentication attacks.

Kyle Vinar

Kyle Vinar is Partner / President of Verus Corporation. He oversees all business operations and coaches Verus teams to continually improve on their solutions from client experience to product development and overall solution implementation. He works with all Verus resources to increase efficiencies and excellence in every aspect of their organizational roles. Kyle believes that people are the last real competitive edge that a company can have and constructing a rich culture is a vital step in running a world-class organization. Therefore he strives to create a culture within Verus that allows everyone to show up authentically and grow both personally and professionally, which in turn allows Verus Corp team members to provide clients with top-of-the-line service. Kyle helps balance strategy, capacity, and culture in such a way that has allowed Verus Corp to achieve exponential growth since he joined the company in 2013. One of Kyle’s greatest professional achievements has been in helping lay the foundation upon which Verus Corporation could be named the 2nd Best Place to Work by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from St. Cloud State University. He lives in Champlin with his wife and 3 children. He has enjoyed volunteering as a soccer coach for over 6 years and was the former Director of Coaching for Rebels Soccer Club. If Kyle isn’t on the sidelines of one of his children’s soccer games or in the audience of his eldest’s musicals, he can often be found cruising scenic routes on his Harley, in a deer stand, or on the golf course.