TÜV Rheinland identifies pathways to effective cybersecurity

December 05, 2023

TÜV Rheinland’s Cybersecurity Trends 2024 reveals how companies can protect themselves from cyberattacks in an increasingly digital and connected world. The attack surface has expanded significantly, especially for small and medium-sized businesses, which often underestimate their vulnerability. But, even large companies with high-security standards are not immune to the advanced techniques of professional hacking organizations.

“The alarming increase in cyberattacks in recent years has made it clear that companies and institutions of all sizes should consider cybersecurity as a strategic priority,” Petr Láhner, business executive vice president of industrial services and cybersecurity at TÜV Rheinland, said in a media statement.

“Besides the disturbing increase in cyberattacks, the rise in the average cost of cyber breaches is an additional concern. Attack methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and cybercrime has turned into a purchasable service,” highlighted Sven Nowak, head of cybersecurity and functional safety at TÜV Rheinland North America. “According to last year’s FBI Internet Crime Report, the damage caused by cyberattacks increased by 48% from the prior year. Without investments in advanced security measures, training, and awareness, these trends will continue to grow at alarming levels.”

Ten key trends for 2024

TÜV Rheinland’s Cybersecurity Trends 2024 provides an overview of ten key trends that organizations need to prepare for. These include:

Stricter cybersecurity regulations: These will create a common framework for increasing the resilience of targeted systems.
Faster ransomware attacks: Ransomware remains the number one threat and poses an enormous challenge to government, business, and society.
Threat to economic survival from cyberattacks: The financial, operational, legal, and reputational damage of cyber incidents is higher than ever.
Supply chain attacks: In case of attacks within the supply chain of a software or hardware product, malicious modules or components are integrated into the product by third-party providers or suppliers.
Massive connectivity: There are reportedly nearly 42 billion connected IoT devices, with the number expected to rise to 75 billion by 2035. And anything that is connected is vulnerable.
Organized Cybercrime: The cybercrime of the future will feature improved organizational structures and the formation of alliances and partnerships.
Formation of cybersecurity alliances: Joint defense alliances and coalitions of companies and institutions are becoming increasingly important.
Use of AI in cyberattacks: Automated mass attacks via phishing that are tailored individually to the targeted companies are becoming increasingly common.
Increase in vulnerabilities: The drastic increase in the number of security vulnerabilities is making vulnerability management a monumental task.
Automotive hacking: Advancing digitalization, autonomous driving, and increased connectivity pose new challenges for cybersecurity.

TÜV Rheinland offers solutions and recommendations to help organizations prepare for these challenges and improve their cyber defense capabilities.

In July, TÜV SÜD PSB, a testing, inspection, certification, and training company with German roots, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lazada Singapore to advocate the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) Cyber Essentials and Trust marks, as a standard framework for Lazada’s key partners. The partnership will help further strengthen their cybersecurity ecosystem.