4 interesting things we learned at Kaspersky CSW – META 2024.

The theme of the event this year was “Securing Digital Horizons”, and what do we mean by that? Well I’m glad you asked. If you look around you, you’ll see more and more aspects of our lives are becoming digital, from the TV, to the watch, to the car, to the traffic signals around your city and so on. With every new digital sphere being connected to the internet, it is bound to bring along cyberthreats that we’ll have to address, and that is exactly what we did in our Cyber Security Weekend, topics from the implications within AI to security threats for critical infrastructure and connected cities, to Kaspersky’s own brainchild, Cyber Immunity, which we believe will be the future of how we think about Cyber Security and who knows, maybe a couple of years down the line we’ll have to rebrand our event as the Cyber Immunity Weekend. Here are the top four mind boggling things we discussed at our event:

1. Drowning in a sea of cyberthreats

It rained threats across the 12 countries that participated in our event, with a splash of 1.9 billion attacks to be exact! Economic growth, geopolitical situations and human behavior drove the cyberthreat landscape to expand in new corners, tipping the scales in favor of cybercriminals. At CSW, Kaspersky experts explained that cyberthreats appeared in different shapes and sizes, targeting people from all walks of life. Also, contrary to popular belief that iOS devices cannot be hacked, cybercriminals achieved the impossible through a campaign called Operation Triangulation, which was discovered by Kaspersky earlier in the year.

• The struggle is REAL to find cybersecurity experts!
  Picture this: the cyber world is like a modern-day wrestling match between David and Goliath, but with keyboards instead of slingshots! Cybercriminals are out there, getting meaner and smarter by the minute, while the skills gap grows in the META region, making businesses defend their castle without proper arsenal. The reason? Lack of cybersecurity talent! Kaspersky research identified lack of experience and huge gap between certification and practical skills as main challenges. For universities, this is goldmine opportunity to introduce cybersecurity in their curriculum and enable students to make a lucrative career choice. Meanwhile, helping business to stay one step ahead of cyber Goliaths is Kaspersky’s Managed Detection and Response services that saw a 10-fold increase in demand in the region, and now you know why.

2. Protecting four-wheeled smartphone of the future

With nearly 1500 patents under its belt, innovation is at the heart of everything Kaspersky. The concept of Cyber Immunity is also the result of such innovative thinking. At CSW, Kaspersky showcased how Cyber Immunity is making waves in the critical infrastructure sector. But, it doesn’t end here. Kaspersky is one step ahead, gearing up to protect your mobile devices and even your beloved automobiles with a shot of Immunity! Imagine your car becoming so cyber-secure that even James Bond would be jealous. No more worrying about hackers turning your car into a remote-controlled toy – Cyber Immune products are here to keep your wheels safe and sound!

3. Should I say thank you to AI?

AI isn’t just helping us order pizza with our voice – it’s also cooking up some devious phishing schemes faster than you can say, “Hey Siri, is this email legit? Kaspersky experts found that 21% of phishing emails investigated from October-December 2023, were marked by AI content detectors as created by non-human! This cyber circus is incomplete without touching upon data privacy in the age of AI. A panel of experts from Kaspersky and the industry discussed the million-dollar question: how much consumer data is too much data for companies? The answer to which revolved around AI ethics, data privacy, data minimalization, accountability, customer consent and AI frameworks.