Check Point: a new IT Cold War in 2020

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a leading company in the field of information security and is known globally not only for its services, but also for its forecasts regarding the impending threats. These forecasts are also shared by other software vendors, including ESET, which we visited a few weeks ago.
The Check Point researchers would have already identified the main IT problems that will have the greatest impact on our company and companies during the 2020.
Check Point: the forecasts for global cyber-security in 2020
Regarding global cyber-security, Check Point talks about a new Cold Computer War, which will take place online and will see the Western and Eastern powers as protagonists. The ‘trigger’ of this trend clearly coincides with the current trade war between United States is China and, therefore, with the growing gap between the two super economies. These and other major nations will attempt to extend their spheres of influence by funding and allowing cyber-attacks: IT operations against Iran are an example, in response to attacks on oil structures in Saudi Arabia.

Among the other forecasts there is that of the so-called fake news 2.0 linked to the US elections in 2020. It is known that the first, widespread use of artificial intelligence fake news was inaugurated during the 2016 elections, which would facilitate the distribution of fictitious stories to the detriment of political opponents. According to US candidates, therefore, overseas political movements are already building new strategies to influence the elections scheduled for next year.
Even essential public services and strategic infrastructures will be damaged by a new wave of cyber attacks. This year we were spectators of a series of attacks addressed to some US and South African public service companies, attacks that exposed the vulnerabilities of infrastructures dedicated to the distribution of energy and water. This and other cases that see the use of a more backward technology will require the intervention of the states, which will have to try to strengthen the IT protections for the relative infrastructures.
Check Point: the technical forecasts for computer security in 2020
Moving the magnifying glass over the targeted attacks, those of ransomware are on the rise and are unlikely to be held back by 2020. This year, ransomware has damaged specific companies, local administrations and health organizations: the fault of hackers who spent a lot of time collecting sensitive information about their victims, in order to increase the damage caused and consequent redemptions. The impact of these attacks has prompted the FBI to review its position on the payment of ransoms, recognizing that companies need to examine all possible solutions to protect their employees and customers.
Check Point also tells us about the attacks of phishing, which evolved through the use of other attack channels by cyber criminals. In this way the attackers would induce the victims to transfer personal information, access credentials and, in some cases, send their money to the sender on duty. Thus, phishing has spread to more and more frequent SMS attacks, and even direct messages via social media and gaming platforms.

Without too many surprises, even users mobile are at risk, with an intensification of the attacks of malware conducted via smartphone: these, in the first half of 2019, saw a 50% increase in mobile banking compared to 2018; the malware was able to steal payment data, credentials and funds from the victims' bank accounts. This increase is also justified by the availability of unpublished variants of malware that can be widespread on a large scale, a diffusion that would be facilitated by possible funding for developers.
"As our society increasingly uses a continuous connection, criminals and scam geniuses have more and more opportunities to condition the outcomes of political developments or to cause inconvenience and disorders that can endanger thousands of human lives ", is what he said Gil Shwed, founder and CEO of Check Point.
Shwed then added: "The attacks are constantly growing: in the last year, ours ThreatCloud has hindered nearly 90 billion violation attempts per day, compared to around six billion daily searches estimated on Google. […] We can no longer defend ourselves by relying on traditional detection-based security models: at the moment the threat is identified, the damage has already been done. You need to automatically block these new advanced Gen V attacks and prevent them from damaging the systems we use, through the Gen V security system that combines real-time threat prevention, the use of shared intelligence, and security measures more advanced on all networks, cloud and mobile installations. "