The cybersecurity industry has been steadily growing for years, and it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. That is because every year, cybercriminals use more and more inventive methods for hacks and scams. Here is a look at the cybersecurity industry outlook for 2021.
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The Continual Rise of Identity Theft and Security Breaches
Hackers and scammers use a wide variety of techniques to steal things like personal information and funds. But one of the most increasing cybersecurity threats is identity theft. According to a data breach study published by Ponemon Institute, identity theft affected 1.67 million Americans in 2016, with an identity theft happening every two seconds. As we enter 2021, those figures look likely to become even higher. Identity theft has devastating effects on the victims. It can result in the loss of savings or being charged for crimes you did not commit, such as fraudulent medical claims. The report by the Ponemon Institute also showed consumers spent more than 154 million hours resolving identity fraud issues.
Having your identity stolen via cybercrime techniques like hacking and phishing leads to all sorts of serious problems, but thankfully, there are various methods to prevent identity theft, including online software, which helps you manage your risk and restore your identity after it has been stolen.
It is not just individual hackers and scammers that online users need to be wary of, though. Some major platforms and apps may not be as secure as they first appear. For instance, the Chinese owners of TikTok have been accused of working with the Chinese government to spy on other nationalities. And in August 2020, 235 million TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube user profiles were exposed in a massive data leak.
What is the size of the identity protection market?
Identity theft and other cybercrimes may be bad news for victims, but from a business perspective, it has allowed the growth of the identity protection and cybersecurity market. According to a report by IBISWorld, the market size of the identity theft protection services industry in the US in 2021 will be worth $2.4 billion. The report also showed the growth rate of the industry in 2021 is expected to increase by 1.3%, having grown by 1% per year on average between 2016 and 2021.
2021 Cybersecurity Industry Predictions
Various cybersecurity industry companies have recently published their prediction trends for 2021. By looking at the large number of security reports from industry leaders like Trend Micro, Watchguard, and FireEye, we can get a good idea of what the most common cybersecurity threats will be in 2021. Major trends we can expect to see include the following:
- As more people continue to work online as a consequence of the lockdowns put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic, more attacks will occur on networks and home computers. That will include the use of actors and taking advantage of unpatched systems and weaknesses in architecture. As more online users and businesses rush to the cloud, we will also see many more security holes, outages, and misconfigurations.
- Growth is obviously a good thing for companies in the industry, particularly as there are a number of different types of cybersecurity to specialize in. However, with so many new products coming to market, along with new mergers and acquisitions, cyber teams could become overwhelmed.
- As 5G takes center stage, many vulnerabilities are expected to be exposed and leaped upon by hackers.
- Ransomware will get worse. Expect data-stealing prior to encryption, malware packing, and the targeting of specific organizations.
- Passwords belong to the past. In 2021, we will start to see them becoming outdated and replaced with multi-factor authentication.
