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Check Point Survey Reveals More Than Half of Targeted Attacks Reported Were Driven by Financial Fraud | |
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 02:16:15 PM | |
Redwood City, CA — Tue, 22 May 2012 - Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced the results of a new survey revealing 65 percent of organizations who experienced targeted attacks report the hacker’s motivation was driven by financial fraud, and resulted in business disruption and the loss of sensitive information, including intellectual property and trade secrets. The report, The Impact of Cybercrime on Businesses, also showed companies reporting an average of 66 new security attack attempts per week, with successful incidents costing businesses anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000. Among the list of top threats, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks were said to pose the greatest risk to organizations. Cybercriminals today are increasingly leveraging malware, bots and other forms of sophisticated threats to attack organizations for various reasons - from financial gain and disruption of business operations to data theft or attacks driven by political agendas. Regardless of motivation, new variants of malware are being generated on a daily basis, often targeting multiple sites and organizations to increase the likelihood of an attack’s initial success and the potential for threats to spread quietly throughout an organization. “Cybercriminals are no longer isolated amateurs. They belong to well-structured organizations, often employing highly-skilled hackers to execute targeted attacks, many of whom receive significant amounts of money depending on the region and nature of the attack,” said Tomer Teller, security evangelist and researcher at Check Point Software Technologies. “Cybercrime has become a business. With bot toolkits for hackers selling today for the mere price of $500, it gives people insight into how big the problem has become, and the importance of implementing preemptive protections to safeguard critical assets.” According to the survey, SQL injections were cited as the most serious types of attacks organizations had experienced in the last two years, and more than one third of respondents had each experienced APTs, botnet infections and DoS attacks. Following investigations of targeted threats, respondents reported the biggest consequences were a disruption to their business and the loss of sensitive data and intellectual property. “For the most part, the goal of attackers is to obtain valuable information. These days, credit card data shares space on the shelves of virtual hacking stores with items such as employee records and Facebook or email log-ins, as well as zero-day exploits that can be stolen and sold on the black market ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000,” added Teller. “Unfortunately, the rate of cybercrime seems to be climbing as businesses experience a surge in Web 2.0 use and mobile computing in corporate environments -- giving hackers more channels of communication and vulnerable entry points into the network.” “Companies are constantly facing new and costly security risks from both internal and external sources that can jeopardize the business,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder, Ponemon Institute. “While the types of threats and level of concern companies have may vary across regions, the good news is that security awareness is rising. Across the board, C-level executives reported high levels of concern about targeted attacks and planned to implement security precautions, technology and training to mitigate the risk of targeted attacks.” Key Findings from the Report:
Cybercriminals are focused on valuable data that is worth the time and risk; therefore, it has become imperative for enterprises to focus their security efforts there as well. Businesses should start by identifying critical data and assets and enforce multi-layered threat prevention. While thousands of companies have already been targets of bots and advanced threats, businesses have the responsibility to stop it from spreading. For more information about how Check Point helps customers mitigate the risk of cybercrime, visit:http://www.checkpoint.com/campaigns/r75.40/index.html. The report, The Impact of Cybercrime on Businesses, surveyed 2,618 C-level executives and IT security administrators in the US, United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong and Brazil. The survey sample represents organizations of all sizes and across multiple industries, including financial, industrial, defense, retail, healthcare and education. For more information and to view the full report, visit:http://www.checkpoint.com/products/downloads/whitepapers/ponemon-cybercrime-2012.pdf. |