The cloud security ecosystem is growing almost as quickly as users’ demands for innovative products and dynamic security solutions. In 2022 the market for cloud security is expected to be valued at near $12.73 billion, a rise of over 25% from just 2021. With such a vast market demand expanding at a frenetic pace we decided to highlight some of the most significant trends impacting this vector in the coming year.

From the collaboration applications keeping our teams together but leaving our data at risk to the advanced attacks focused on SMB and the supply chain, there are so many factors ripe for cyber exploitation in the coming year. In part I of this blog, we hope to navigate you through the most consequential threats and provide some context into how these elements of cloud security must be optimized to prevent your team from being attacked.

Collaboration apps targeted by hackers

If the covid-19 pandemic has taught the global economy anything, it’s that collaboration is key to keeping organizations in sync with a new remote workforce and a range of problems never before considered for sharing information and ideas. If the 2000s were a time of rapid change and innovation, the end of the 2010s into the 2020s was a time of massive adaptation and improvisation to attempt to maintain some sense of situational normalcy.

A major element in ensuring continuous communication and fluid channels to share secure data has been the rise of collaboration applications and platforms, from zooms and google Hangouts to Microsoft teams and WhatsApp, everyone and their ill-informed colleagues have now jumped on the collaboration bandwagon…but at what cost?

According to Gartner since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic collaboration app usage has risen 44%, resulting in nearly 80% of respondents using these tools. With such vast integration of collaboration apps across so many sectors it’s mission-critical moving into 2022 that IT teams focus on the potential risks and viable security solutions to mitigate the threat of attack on these vital channels.

The Rise in Attacks on the Supply Chain

From the colonial pipeline to the aftermath of the Kaseya supply chain hack, 2021 proved that everyone is at risk, and even more so if you’re a clearinghouse for massive data sets and responsible for the data management of organizations large and small. A supply chain attack allows the cybercriminals to maximize the damage they inflict by using the entrance point of one company to impart massive damage to the hundreds of other companies in the chain.

According to recent research from ZDnet “In an analysis of 24 recent software supply chain attacks, including those experienced by Codecov, Kaseya, SolarWinds, and Mimecast, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) said that the planning and execution stage of supply chain attacks are usually complex — but the attack methods often chosen are not.”

In the coming year, all signs point to the supply chain continuing to grow as a prime attack vector for extorting maxing pain on the broadest collection of business  and service providers around the globe.

Reflections and Part II

In 2022 the key to our success as well as a great deal of cyber risk are closely connected with collaboration. From the basic tools, we use to commutate with co-workers to the complex systems our security products interface with to provide optimal security, every element in the chain can and will be attacked to cause the maximum amount of damage to all involved. Only through innovative thinking, honest conversations with IT about cyber risk, and a fluid approach to mitigating evolving cyber threats can we attempt to manage all that comes with advanced collaboration and integration opportunities.

In Part II of Top Cyber Trends for 2022, we’ll break down how RaaS will impact SMB, the importance of Cloud Security in Business applications and the refocus on email security. Stay tuned!