Cybersecurity Trends & Challenges 2020

Organizations can measurably increase cyberattack resilience and reduce risk only through a balanced program that combines targeted technology investments with education, organization, guidelines, policies, and repeatable processes. Security does not improve by simply accumulating tools; excessive tooling can even worsen operations, while the right tools—properly selected and operated—matter. Key 2020 challenges include persistent ransomware, the rise of destructive “wiper” malware, and growing “in-and-out” attacks that often begin with phishing, quickly extract monetizable data, and then vanish—sometimes enabling downstream fraud such as fake invoices. Digital transformation expands the attack surface as new applications and consumer IoT integrations create more entry points, making built-in security and identity management essential.

Weak authentication remains a dominant risk: passwords persist and are easily phished, with many breaches beginning from compromised credentials. Operationally, many organizations struggle to detect threats and run effective Security Operations Centers due to a skills gap; emerging technologies help only when teams can deploy and operate them well. In industrial environments, OT and IIoT integration with enterprise systems introduces heightened risk because legacy systems and the need to balance safety and security complicate protections; attacks on factory floors can be especially damaging.

Technology trends include applied AI to augment human defenders (not replace them), growing API security tied to DevOps practices, adoption of passwordless and adaptive authentication (including MFA, biometrics, and FIDO2), a shift beyond SIEM toward SOAR with AI-enhanced response, and IoT edge security using segmentation plus NTDR and deception approaches. Recommendations prioritize recovery and incident response management, adopting identity and security fabric architectures, moving to adaptive/passwordless authentication, using managed SOC/SOC-as-a-Service, and aligning IT with OT/IIoT security. Additional priorities include future-ready PAM, disciplined security portfolio management, and cybersecurity supply chain risk management.

• Ransomware remains profitable and is expected to persist.
• Wipers are destructive malware that destroy data rather than holding it hostage.
• “In-and-out” attacks often start with phishing and involve minimal attacker dwell time.
• Stolen information from “in-and-out” attacks can be used to send fake bills or invoices to other victims.
• Digital transformation increases the attack surface through new applications and IoT-connected services.
• Passwords are a weak authentication method that are easily phished and compromised.
• Many data breaches begin with compromised passwords.
• SOCs are less common than expected in part because of a shortage of skilled technicians.
• OT and IIoT environments contain substantial legacy technology, complicating security controls.
• Most IoT devices cannot run standard endpoint security agents.

• “Technology by itself does not help, and having too many tools in place may exacerbate problems.”
• “More tools do not equal more security.”
• “Ransomware is not new, but here to stay.”
• “Rather than holding your data hostage, wipers simply destroy your data.”
• “Once you are connected, you are under attack”.
• “AI (Artificial Intelligence) can’t replace the human, it can augment the human.”
• “Put Adaptive Authentication and Passwordless Authentication at the top of your to-do-list.”
• “For the sake of synergy, organization takes precedence, then technology.”
• “Understand which tools really help to mitigate particular risks.”
• “The suppliers you work with impact your security posture.”