Cyber-crime is constantly on the rise, both in volume and in financial impact. Given that there are currently no standardized ways of collecting statistics worldwide, and that cyber-crime-related incidents are differently classified, it's pretty hard to give estimates on what kind of danger cybersecurity is actually in. However, what we can be sure of is that the situation is worrisome and that new cybersecurity threats are being developed and executed every day.
Given that we are becoming more and more globally connected, dependence on cyberspace is increasing, and that includes the occurrence of new types of critical infrastructures. With the number of devices depending on the Internet increasing, being online is no longer an exception, but a rule, although we are often not even aware of it. While that change opens great opportunities and advantages for individuals, businesses, and society in general, it also increases the risk of abuse by criminals and other factors. Heterogeneity and high levels of fragmentation in today's software and hardware systems often come in a combination with a lack of safety and privacy, which turns cybersecurity into a highly complex matter. Through the same pattern, cyber threats are now often replicated across different systems and a potentially large number of devices, due to the fact that the same software products are now used in different contexts.
When it comes to cyber-crime, there is a noticeable increase in industrialization and the development of a crime economy based on services. The term that is used in cybersecurity for this specific phenomenon is Crime as a Service, which now enables easy access to cyber-crime products, services, and tools. In combination with the rapid development of the Internet in countries that previously had little to no Internet access, we are now facing global challenges and risks for cybersecurity.
In conclusion, the future certainly holds great challenges for digital forensics and cybersecurity. In order to be able to analyze these massive amounts of data and devices, capacities will constantly have to be updated and improved. The volume of data that will require analysis will demand better tools for support, storage, analysis, and visualization of data. New methods of data analysis will have to be devised. Data, along with the total infrastructure will continue to be transferred to the cloud, which is already presenting a technical challenge for digital forensics. The increased use of encryption will make some of the current approaches somewhat less effective. The evolution of virtual money will also complicate the investigation of criminal transactions. However, most countries today view cybersecurity as one of their top priorities, so we can definitely look forward to some breakthroughs and exciting developments in the field.