This year, cybercriminals continued to consolidate in creating more and better threats, that is why in cybersecurity issues, we must always take all this into account.
In order to talk about the main threats this year and the expectations for the next, we spoke with Gabriel Bravo, Commercial Director of VU Security in Mexico.
What was the cybersecurity landscape in Mexico?
We are advancing and we are more and more protected, although they are topics where we never finish learning or progress enough. But with the pandemic, from 2020 and 2021, the entire electronic and digital issue increased almost 100%.
Ecommerce and cyber attacks increased in the same proportion in Mexico and Latin America, unfortunately our country ranks third in Latam with cybersecurity problems or more cyber attacks.
I see many challenges ahead, as well as there is increasing awareness of the challenges that exist in the network, however, there are still many ways to protect ourselves, in addition to people being trained in cybersecurity issues.
In that sense, we know that there are already more ways of payment, as well as other elements that probably allow criminals to focus on these elements, so …
What awaits us for the following years in terms of cybersecurity?
Unfortunately, cybercriminals are expected to keep taking over user data, looking for ways to capture people’s money and data.
Although also, it is expected that people are more aware, of all the risks of online shopping, this year was one of the main sobering for everyone in cybersecurity.
The acquired awareness will encourage people to be informed and more educated when making electronic transactions and thus, have a greater education in cybersecurity.
What could be the main causes of a breach?
We all use social networks and something normal is that you pour your personal information there, the more data we are sharing on the network, the more vulnerable we are to a cybersecurity attack.
I believe that being aware that we cannot be so open on social networks will help us not to fall into certain cyberattacks, in addition to ignoring everything that our contacts send us.
Many people have fallen for the famous WhatsApp chains, where someone from your contacts sends you a message to ask for money, but when they see that it is someone you know, you agree and give vital information.
Cybercriminals through an SMS or a social network can put links to “offer” a promotion that you like, you access it, the cybercriminal, already has the elements to hack your WhatsApp.
Out of 100 attempts, maybe one or five people fall into it, here you can start your hacking of more accounts; This is one of the most common problems in Mexico and Latin America.
Were the expectations for 2021 met or exceeded?
All the estimates were exceeded in volume, three years ago the average crime was 8 thousand pesos, in 2020, it was 80 thousand pesos, this year, it reached 160 thousand pesos.
This indicates that the attacks are becoming more sophisticated and impact more on people’s finances, it is a reality.
What we must do is protect ourselves, understand how cybercriminals work to be able to seek that part and thus fall into a trap.
What would be the main elements to protect us?
First of all, we must study hard, understand that cybercriminals are always a few steps ahead of cybersecurity, they are looking for a way to steal your data.
If you are going to hire a bank service, you should ask about their cybersecurity, the controls they have to protect your information and transactions, to use all these capabilities.
Second, when sharing more privileged or personal information, you have to be more cautious, a few years ago we started with cyberattacks and I recommend minimizing the use of photographs on the network.
Third, all smartphones have great capabilities and we must use them to the maximum, to protect yourself, authentication factors are very common and people are still unaware of them.
What would be the trends we would have for 2022?
The growth of digital channels is increasing and each year they will continue to grow, many people who did not use a digital channel, in the pandemic realized that it was very comfortable and easy, but it is vital to learn about cybersecurity issues.
At VU, we see that the path towards the traditional path will be very little, we will continue to use the use of digital channels, but there will also be more crimes.
The ways to commit a cybercrime will be increasingly sophisticated, we must take into account everything that is currently happening and prepare for the future.
There is a mix between security and efficiency, you cannot have so many security controls impacting the efficiency of processes, you cannot have fewer controls to be more agile, you must find the balance in these two points.