Increase in ransomware, zero-day vulnerabilities, and supply chain attacks top cyber threats for 2023, report

Increased use of ransomware and wipeware, more zero-day vulnerabilities, and cyber-attacks on supply chains will become more prevalent, Barracuda shared in its cyber threat predictions report for 2023

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Security solutions firm Barracuda, on Wednesday, shared its cyber threat predictions for 2023. The predictions point to the exploitation of authentication methods, expansions of attack surfaces, more zero-day and supply chain attacks, web application attacks, and exploitation of vulnerabilities in IoTs.

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Wipeware attacks emanating from Russia will likely spill over into other countries with continued geopolitical tensions. And with ransomware-as-a-service business models taking off and the build leak of LockBit 3.0, a new generation of smaller and smarter gangs are likely to become more prevalent, the cloud-first security solutions provider shared.

More zero-day vulnerabilities are also expected to take place with close to 21,000 CVEs being registered in 2022. While many of these were classed as “critical” and many were actively exploited by attackers, there were also a number of popular third-party software libraries with critical vulnerabilities.

Predictions also include attacks on supply chains, credential theft, and an expansion of attack surfaces.

With an increase in the adoption of cloud-based and software-as-a-service offerings with remote work continuing, the number of potential attack surfaces in organisations will continue to increase.

“In 2023, organisations need to be ready to be targeted by every kind of cyber threat, regardless of their size or industry sector. As existing authentication methods are challenged by attackers, security practitioners need to look at alternatives,” Parag Khurana, Country Manager, Barracuda Networks India, said.