Following the tension between the United States and Iran after the tragic death of military general Qasem Soleimani, cybersecurity companies witnessed stock growth in January.
As the conflict deepens, many industry analysts believe that fears of cyberattacks can escalate. Hacking linked to Iran criminal groups is on the watch, as more hackers become more sophisticated. The vulnerable situation could bring chaos if US businesses will be targets of cyberattacks.
The US officials held a meeting last Jan. 16, plotting preparation for the hypothetical scenarios that could happen anytime this month. Two companies, CrowdStrike and Cloudfare highlight the capability of hackers in hacking US business infrastructure, creating chaos.
The recent incident of possible hacking was reported Jan. 22 when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ mobile phone was hacked. Information indicating the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was discovered, which gathered an international tension. The United Nations has joined in the investigation and experts suggest that the spyware was delivered to Bezos’ phone via WhatsApp account belonging to the Crown Prince.
In addition to this huge fiasco involving two influential individuals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disclosed that hackers are employing a strain of malware that could hack data files from companies. This news drove fears over businesses that are protecting sensitive data and information that could potentially be tampered due to hacking.
The heightened fear over cyberattacks caused an increase in the stock of cybersecurity companies. “We are seeing huge growth. We’re servicing more calls than we can handle, which is actually a problem,” said Dragos vice president of threat intelligence Sergio Caltagirone.
Stock Market Rattle
As the conflict and fears escalate, more and more businesses are calling help from cybersecurity companies for protection.
Industry experts like Joel Fishbein said that the recent event could drive higher spending on cybersecurity for months. Businesses fear huge losses connected to data breach and hacking, hence, they are willing to spend more to protect data.
Information security firms are riding the waves, witnessing at least 7 percent stock increase in recent months December and January. Last year’s revenue of $120 billion could hit $143 billion in 2021, as cyberattacks deepen.
In addition to the Iran conflict, the increase in the demand for cybersecurity can be an effect of the nearing 2020 elections. Several security companies are tapping political parties and offer cybersecurity services for the ‘public good.’