Cyber attackers repeatedly change their ways of attacks, which creates new cyber risks. It is important for companies to be prepared for this in order to counter the danger of being compromised. At the end of the year, cyber risks experts gave two main forecasts for the coming year in order to make cybersecurity managers aware of the most likely security problems for 2021.
Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities
Many security tools that are connected to the online world are increasingly vulnerable to Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities. Just a few years ago, there was a huge decline in attackers who exploited RCE vulnerabilities as the primary target for initial access. Instead, they switched to simpler ways such as phishing attempts and drive-by exploits because it was considered time consuming and costly to find and exploit vulnerabilities. However, since it became known how the hackers have successfully exploited RCE vulnerabilities in connected networks, this activity has regained popularity.
As a result of the disclosure, security experts have turned their attention to connected security devices and software that are specifically prepared for the internet, resulting in vulnerabilities and firewalls.
Hackers Use Unauthorized OAuth 2.0 Grants
Many companies have now made their employees more aware of phishing attempts, increased the use of factor authentication and established rules for the detection of anomalous logins. For this reason, hackers are now trying to trick employees into allowing them to access their accounts with unauthorized OAuth 2.0 grants.
A trend that is expected to intensify in the coming months. Such OAuth 2.0 grants are not revoked when passwords are changed, nor do they require additional prompts to be abused by hackers. Companies should therefore restrict which applications are eligible to claim OAuth 2.0 grants for employee accounts. Another option for more cybersecurity is to restrict access rights with OAuth 2.0. This includes, for example, the method of not allowing employees to use OAuth 2.0 to allow untrusted apps to read or write mails.
