Trend Micro provides a glimpse into the future of cybersecurity with Project 2030

The latest predictions report suggests connectivity, data, and AI will change the way people live, work, and operate in society in the near future.

March 1, 2022 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, released a visionary report and a dramatized video series articulating how the world might look at the start of the next decade – and how the security sector might respond to evolving cybercrime innovation.

By 2030, connectivity will affect every aspect of daily life, on both the physical and psychological levels. Malicious threat actors will evolve to use and abuse technological innovation, which is expected in the consistent change of the threat landscape. The report itself looks at the world in 2030 through the perspectives of a fictional citizen, a business, and a government. It offers a detailed analysis of evolving cyber threats and how these might impact security stakeholders.

“Today, AI, machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices have all found a commonplace in our daily lives. Therefore, we must remain vigilant in safeguarding our digital activities and equipping ourselves to successfully navigate through cyber-threats attempting to disrupt our digital experiences.,” said Dr. Moataz Bin Ali, Vice President and Managing Director, MEA for Trend Micro. “Project 2030 not only provides predicted scenarios in a new digital era but also prepares us for cybersecurity challenges that are less than a decade away. This report reflects our commitment and provides invaluable guidance for enterprises and communities in the region to further secure their digital journeys for a better tomorrow”

Among the predictions in the report are:

• AI tools democratize cybercrime on a whole new scale to individuals with no technical skill
• Attacks cause chaos with supply chains and physical harm to humans through their cyber-implants
• Social engineering and misinformation become more visceral and harder to ignore when delivered via ubiquitous Heads Up Displays (HUDs)
• Massive IoT (MIoT) environments attract sabotage and extortion attacks targeting manufacturing, logistics, transportation, healthcare, education, retail, and the home environment
• AI-powered confusion makes attribution virtually impossible, pushing the security industry’s focus towards incident response and IAM at the edge
• 5G and 6G connectivity everywhere drive more sophisticated and precise attacks
• “Everything as a Service” turns cloud providers into hugely lucrative targets for cyber-attackers
• Grey markets emerge for those that want tools to confound workplace monitoring
• Techno-nationalism becomes a key geostrategic tool for some of the world’s most powerful nations, with the gulf between them and the have-nots widening further

A successor to Trend Micro’s acclaimed 2012 report, Project 2020, the new paper was compiled from open-source research, vendor threat landscape reports, scientific abstracts, patents, an invitation-only online survey, and a CISO poll. The video dramatisation of the report is meant to be an engaging, entertaining way to visualise the future and enable organisations to think about how they will need to adapt to new realities.