7 Security Vendor Predictions for 2021

While deepfakes and other cutting-edge exploits may grow more common in 2021, most attackers will stick to tried and true ones like brute force assaults, according to John Hammond, senior security researcher at Huntress Labs.

“Hackers will continue to go for the low-hanging fruit,” he says. “Password spraying and credential stuffing—whatever’s the easiest option, they will always take the path of least resistance. Though hackers and attack methods have grown more sophisticated, the fact remains that they work smarter, not harder. There’s no need to break through the window when the front door is unlocked.”

Deploying multifactor authentication, most experts agree, is an important part of mitigating brute force threats. Nachreiner, in fact, warns that 2021 will be a painful year for companies without MFA, and just some of them.

“We know it’s bold, but we predict that in 2021, every service that doesn’t have MFA enabled will suffer a breach or an account compromise,” he says.