What A Difference A Year Makes, Or Does It?

By Sabrina Lavi, Webroot

2020 was a year of immense change. One thing is for certain – the world collectively witnessed the increase of digital interconnectivity. We began even more to rely on the internet as a conduit to the world. The rise of remote access to businesses, entertainment and interpersonal connections surged. The death of distance accelerated.

The increased reliance on remote access provided cybercriminals with an opportunity to exploit any easily accessible vulnerability. The rise in remote access, compounded by the need to learn more about the pandemic, offered an optimal climate for cybercriminals to thrive.

In 2021, the 24/7 news cycle was filled with stories of cyberattacks. There was the infrastructure ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline in May 2021, which caused the company to cease operations for days. Also the attack on JBS USA, which fell victim to ransomware and threatened U.S. food supplies. In another instance, a malicious actor was able to breach the Florida Water computer system and temporally alter the water content by changing the sodium hydroxide levels. In each of these examples, cybercriminals capitalized on the collective vulnerabilities of individuals and businesses to target critical infrastructure.

The list goes on.

In our 2020 Webroot Threat Report, our security experts made a series of predictions related to the threat landscape. Let’s revisit some of these predictions to see how close we came.