Cognyte I Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World 5 TREND 1: SECURITY THREATS ARE BECOMING MORE DIFFICULT TO DETECT AND MITIGATE ADVANCED TOOLS HELP PERPETRATORS EVADE DETECTION Perpetrators use numerous tools and platforms to evade detection, which makes fighting security threats much harder. Here are a few examples: Using these and other tools, attackers can avoid detection and carry out activities on an unparalleled scale. And the ease with which anyone with malicious intent can act means that there is a wider range of threat actors than ever before - from cross-national criminal organizations and nation-state backed hacking groups, to lone-wolf terrorists and individual hackers. This potent combination of better tools and more potential perpetrators makes the job of detecting and preventing criminal and terror activity exceedingly difficult. CRYPTOCURRENCIES: Traditional payment methods are monitored and traceable. To bypass this, terrorist groups and criminals are increasingly using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero to pay for illicit goods and services and to launder money. SOCIAL MEDIA: Criminals often leverage fake social media accounts across platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, to communicate with other criminals covertly and to threaten and lure in new customers and victims, while extremists leverage social media for the purposes of recruitment and incitement. DARK WEB MARKETPLACES: Only accessible via a specialized Tor browser, dark web marketplaces facilitate the anonymous purchasing and selling of cyber security exploits, leaked data, illicit drugs, illegal weapons, and more. Dark web marketplace sales grew by 70% in 2019, demonstrating their pivotal role in illegal activities. 2 CHATBOTS: AI-based chatbots can automate the entire process of tricking people into infecting their own computers, or disclosing sensitive information. For example, in 2016, thousands of Facebook users were tricked into downloading malware by human-like chatbots, displaying the potency of this new technology. 3