Upon the request of so many people, and reflecting the state of affairs the world is experiencing nowadays of Cybercrime and other malicious attacks, the seizure of personal and/or state data which has become the second nature of hackers, I would like you to read carefully my predictions for 2021:

• 2021 will be the year where we will see a further rise of deep fakes and other forms of advanced impersonation and identity fraud attacks.

• 2021 will highlight Zero trust in cybersecurity which is the principle of treating everyone and everything as untrusted. Effectively not distinguishing between employees, Internet users, working from home or the office…

• As Covid-19 is spreading globally, more and more non-urgent medical appointments will be performed remotely. Electronic prescriptions backed by Advanced or Qualified Electronic Digital Signatures (AES or QES) will enable fewer contact points for potentially sick patients.

• 2021 Electronic prescriptions and remote consultations will be key to reducing non-Covid related excess illness and deaths currently elevated as less people seek help through fear of infection.

• If you haven’t experienced a remote medical appointment or received an electronic prescription yet, you will in 2021.

• 2021 will see an increase in investment and focus on cybersecurity training since ultimately, better security starts with a smart qualified well-equipped workforce.

• 2021 shall note a good starting point for enhancing e-commerce. Fintech companies and banks educating their own customers on how to make sure they are on the right site.

• “Deep fake” cyber-attacks will increasingly be utilized by cybercriminals to penetrate and swipe corporate and local authorities’ data.

• Expect to hear more about secure email solutions.

• VPN protection will be non-negotiable.

• 2021 Cybersecurity training will be even more of a necessity.

• 2021 will be the Year whereby governments will try to exercise even more control online.

• There will be more penetration testing and security preventative measures (as with all aspects of life, prevention is the best medicine!). Secure transactions (SSL) will be a top priority for small, medium, and large corporations regardless of their scope of work. Markets like healthcare and finance will be leveraging security as a competitive differentiator.

• Following the election chaos that ensues in the US surrounding mail-in ballot systems, there will be a renewed interest in updating legacy technologies with secure remote electronic voting systems.

• 2021, will notably realize continued growth in Digital Signatures. During Covid-19 companies began relying on them even more, setting the stage for additional growth in 2021 and further protection that is deemed very importantly and urgent.

• 2021 shall carry with it shocking news relating to About 70% of IT and Security Pros hone their cyber skills outside of work, while 58% of employees lack regular cybersecurity training.

• 2021 shall also witness, Robotics Process Automation (RPA) will continue its expansion across enterprises – But it would be met with security obstacles in how to bot identities and access can be managed.

• 2021 shall witness many political initiatives undertaken without consultation of independent experts of technology.

• 2021 shall also witness a curve in policy whereby legislative authorities shall request technology, privacy, and data protection experts come to their aid and help in securing fine legislation that may stand in the face of hackers and Cyber Crime criminals.

• In 2021 the cybersecurity talent gap will narrow through untraditional hiring, and women would contribute to a better and safer milieu.

Last but surely not least, and in my honest and frank opinion, it is going to be very difficult if not impossible to put an end to those attacks unless both state and private sector start working together and simultaneously legislating strict and stringent laws against any type of hacking coupled with excessive fines imposed including imprisonment; and in parallel the private sector resorts to applying authentication and cryptography starting with email, document signing, PKI and access management.

Dr. Salah A. Rustum
Chairman
CIELTECH LLC
Doha, January 1st, 2021