The pace of technological advancements, system interconnectivity, and electronic record creation increases substantially with every passing year, and even more exponentially with each passing generation. In fact, the digital world we live in today was long imagined and coveted, and the innovators have ushered to the masses an abundance of availability, speed, and convenience, in as much as it has personal and instant gratification. The baggage that followed, however, was initially relegated to a necessary, albeit acceptable, nuisance that required some sacrifice of privacy and security in the name of progress. Over time, the nuisance evolved to measurable risk with impacts that could no longer be ignored, which ignited cybersecurity as not just an industry but an entire economy with a value estimated by Gartner to exceed $155 billion by 2021. 

Risk management in all regards is a fluid game. And, like any other lucrative enterprise that draws criminal activity, cyber malfeasance is a numbers game. When more attack surface is made available, the opportunity for an increase in types of cyber threats, attacks and attackers is a natural result. If you couple that with a tumultuous year that has caused ample distraction (e.g., COVID-19, a heated presidential election, a polarized nation divided by politics, record unemployment), 2021 is sure to see more bad actors executing more cyberattacks than ever before, with a Gartner estimated global impact to reach a staggering $6 trillion. Attackers’ varying motivations make any organization a target, regardless of industry. Aside from state-sponsored cyber warfare, which is nonetheless a major threat with serious risk implications, the top motivations include street credibility, hacktivism, stealing your data for use or to sell, stealing your bandwidth, stealing your money, and holding your data hostage. 

An effective cyberdefense is critical now more than ever given the increases in types of cyber threats. Protocols, technologies, and other countermeasures that worked five years ago will not cover the complexity of threats across all industries today.

Read our recent eBook to see our top cybersecurity predictions for 2021 Cyber Security Predictions for 2021.

Ron Pelletier

Founder & Chief Customer Officer | Pondurance

Ron Pelletier is the original Founder of Pondurance, having started the company from his basement in 2008. Ron has over 25 years of cybersecurity advisory experience. He started his career as an officer in the U.S. Army, followed by nine years with Big Four firm EY. As a strong consensus builder and customer advocate, Ron is focused on evangelizing the Pondurance brand as well as customer success.