Annual Global Cyber Threat Review

Annual Global Cyber Threat Review

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6702455_m featureThe global cyber threat review conducted by CyberArk reveals: The recent reports regarding the NSA’s activities, in addition to the wave of infiltrations into the networks of large U.S. retail companies, had the most influence on the security strategies of organizations over the past year. 60% of organizations, however, allow third-party suppliers to remotely access their internal network, while worrying about the level of security. 61% monitor their networks themselves, watching for signs of suspicious third-party activities.

68% of the top executives taking part in the survey noted that the activities of the NSA, some of them exposed by Edward Snowden, in addition to the infiltrations into the networks of large retail companies, were among the most influential factors on the development of security strategies against advanced threats. The survey is based on interviews with hundreds of top executives and IT managers throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

When asked which of the past year’s cyber attacks had the most influence on the organization’s security strategies, 37% of the participants noted the NSA activities, 31% noted the attacks on U.S. retail companies, and 19% chose government-funded espionage as the events that led to changes in their organization’s security patterns.

As more and more companies move into the cloud, simplifying the supply chain by giving third-party suppliers permanent access to their networks, cyber-attackers target those same partners in an attempt to take advantage of their access to the target organization’s networks. That was the method used in some of the most destructive attacks carried out during the last 12 months. According to the survey 60% of business organizations allow third-party suppliers to remotely access limited parts of their internal networks. 58% of those organizations admit that they aren’t confident that third-party suppliers monitor and secure the access into their networks.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Survey participants are also worried about betrayal of trust from within the organization itself. 52% believe that cyber-attackers are present within their networks at any given moment, or have been present during the past year. Another interesting find has to do with the cloud: 26% noted cloud computing technology as a trend that has influence on the design of security strategies.

When asked whether their organization considers the use of security analysis, according to the survey 31% of businesses already use security analytics in some manner, 23% are planning to use security analytics within the next 12 months, and 33% have no plans to use security analytics.

The loss of intellectual property and competitive advantages, loss of brand value, loss of clients and negative influences on stock holders – these are only some of the effects experienced by organizations that were targeted by hackers over the last year,” this according to Chen Beitan, Director of CyberArk Israel.