Armis is warning that global elections will be the largest attack vector for nation-state actors looking to cause mass disruption in 2024.
Data from Armis’ second annual global cyberwarfare report, The Invisible Front Line: AI-Powered Cyber Threats Illuminate the Dark Side, show organisations and governments worldwide face critical threat levels from sophisticated nation-states and admittedly are severely underprepared to defend against impending cyberwarfare attacks.
“In the biggest global election year in history, democracy is the primary target of nation-state threat actors,” said Nadir Izrael, CTO and Co-Founder, Armis. “Make no mistake – we are in a cyber arms race against our adversaries and society as we know it is at risk. It’s essential that we immediately shift from a reactive to a proactive, defensive stance before it’s too late.”
Thirty-nine percent of IT leaders worldwide believe cyberwarfare could affect the integrity of an electoral process and 42% believe cyberwarfare could target the media.
As half of the global population across 76 nations prepare to head to the polls this year, this pre-existing doubt in the sanctity of the electoral process has laid the groundwork for calculated assaults on public trust.
When successful, cyberwarfare attacks could destabilise economies and cripple entire commercial and societal systems.
Additionally, 60% of IT leaders say digital transformation projects have stalled or stopped entirely due to cyberwarfare risks.
However, innovation has not stalled for bad actors who continue to push the boundaries. Elite researchers from Armis Labs have uncovered the tactics of nation-state actors affiliated with Russia, North Korea, Iran and China that are using AI for advanced cyber capabilities.
Armis Labs is also seeing an increase in the combination of weaponised vulnerabilities being used by threat actors in a single attack.
“Relying on legacy technologies and manual security processes is the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight, given the threats we’re up against and the arsenal of nation-state actors,” continued Izrael. “It is critical that security leaders fight fire with fire, leveraging AI-powered solutions that empower them with actionable intelligence before a vulnerability is announced, before an attack is launched and before their organisation is impacted. Forewarned is forearmed.”
Evan Thomas, Channel Director, ANZ at Armis said, “We are facing the greatest risks to Australia and New Zealand’s critical infrastructure and society as we know it, as reports of regular targeted and opportunistic cyberattacks from nation-state actors continue to surge. The developing AUKUS defence partnership, along with the complexities of multiple geopolitical challenges, have led to unprecedented levels of sophistication and scale in our threat landscape. The spike in attacks on critical infrastructure combined with the alarming findings from Armis’ threat intelligence emphasises a clear need for organisations to immediately prioritise cybersecurity.
To do this, organisations across Australia and New Zealand need to urgently shift their cybersecurity strategies from reactive to proactive, as that’s the only way to effectively defend against these significant cyber threats. Cyber awareness and readiness must remain at the top of every organisation’s list of strategic priorities, as should the deployment of AI-powered technology that enables security teams to stop nation-state attacks before they impact their organisation.”
You can read the full report here.
