Nation-state cyber threat actors are expected to acquire and flex new offensive cyber capabilities in “an increasingly polarized world,” warns cyber risk analytics specialist CyberCube.
In a new report, CyberCube anticipates “there will be further attempts to compromise IT supply chains and geopolitical targets such as government agencies and non-government organizations”
Chinese threat actors are expected “to engage in zero-day exploitation and disclosure and a heightened level of nation-state targeting of critical infrastructure targets worldwide is anticipated.”
The research “CyberCube’s Global Threat Briefing: Update on cyber threat actor activity and expectations” identifies areas “that the (re)insurance and broking community need to focus on.”
Utilizing CyberCube’s Exposure Databases “to enable (re)insurers and brokers to perform a wide array of benchmarking, sensitivity, and real-time analyses for cyber risks, it warns that Healthcare, Arts & Entertainment, and Manufacturing are sectors demonstrating high Exposure and low Security scores.”
In particular, Healthcare remains “under-secured relative to its inherent exposure and more attacks are expected in 2023.”
The report “examines criminal cyber threat activity and predicts the overall volume of ransomware and extortion attacks in the first six months of 2023 is likely to be on par with 2022.”
It also states there will be “increased targeting of critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.”
William Altman, report author and Cyber Threat Intelligence Principal, said:
“As Russia faces mounting losses, attacks on critical Ukranian civilian infrastructure could intensify. This includes attacks on Public and Local Authorities. Cyber security will be critical to defending civilian life, including in the energy, financial, communications, and vital software sectors in Ukraine.”
Yvette Essen, CyberCube Head of Content, said:
“Despite rising costs, most cyber insurance buyers are trying to maintain or increase their current level of cyber insurance coverage. Today, this trend has caused some strain in a market that continues to be characterized by limited capacity and increased demand. Nevertheless, the cyber (re)insurance market is showing signs of stabilization.”
Access the report here.
As noted in the update, CyberCube claims that it “delivers the world’s leading cyber risk analytics for the insurance industry.”
With data access and advanced multi-disciplinary analytics, the company’s cloud-based platform “helps insurance organizations quantify cyber risk to facilitate placing insurance, underwriting cyber risk and managing cyber risk aggregation.”
CyberCube’s enterprise intelligence layer “provides insights on millions of companies globally and includes modeling on thousands of points of technology failure.”
The CyberCube platform was “established in 2015 within Symantec and now operates as a standalone company exclusively focused on the insurance industry, with access to an unparalleled ecosystem of data partners.”
It is backed “by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, Forgepoint Capital, HSCM Bermuda, MTech Capital, individuals from Stone Point Capital and Scott G. Stephenson.”
