By Mounir Hahad, head of Juniper Threat Labs at Juniper Networks

The Year of Security "Firsts"

The cybersecurity industry is ever changing. The new year will certainly bring a list of "firsts" that enterprises and individuals alike should be ready for. For example, 2020 will bring the first online U.S. Census, as well as an unprecedented number of connected devices. With both will come several new security threats. 2019 was all about preparation, but 2020 will be about execution, management and mitigation, in order to stay secure amid changing technologies and network demands.  

The U.S. Census will come online in 2020 - with security holes

For the first time, the U.S. Census will offer a fully online response option in 2020. Bringing the census online will have numerous benefits, but also raises serious cybersecurity concerns. We will probably identify security holes in the census process and because many threat actors - both nation states and cyber criminals - would be interested in falsifying the data or just stealing it, it's likely we'll see attempts to exploit those security gaps. While the census is being conducted, we will also see an uptick in phishing attempts from cyber criminals posing as government agents, in order to obtain sensitive information from victims. Both government agencies and citizens alike need to take precautions to ensure we see the rewards of providing an online option for the 2020 census and not just the risks.

First large scale IoT ransomware attack

In 2020, the number of IoT devices plugged into the internet will reach a threshold that will present an attractive target for cyber criminals. We will probably start seeing the first ransomware attacks on a large scale targeting IoT devices running on low power microprocessors and using the Android or Linux operating system.

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About the Author 

Mounir Hahad, head of Juniper Threat Labs at Juniper Networks, is a seasoned cybersecurity expert focused on malware research, detection techniques and threat intelligence. He leads Juniper Threat Labs, the organization at Juniper Networks identifying and tracking malicious threats in the wild and ensuring Juniper products implement effective detection techniques and have access to the latest threat intelligence needed to block malicious attacks. Prior to joining Juniper, Mounir was the head of Cyphort Labs and has held various leadership roles with Cisco and IronPort.