According to the Clusit Report in the first quarter of 2017 at least 50% of global enterprises were hit by a hacker attack, mobile malware on the rise
The Clusit Report 2017 offers an anything but positive picture for global companies in terms of cybersecurity. According to the survey by the Italian Information Security Association, at least 50 percent of global enterprises experienced a hacker attack in the first quarter of 2017.
The first quarter of 2017 was the absolute worst period for SMBs when it comes to cybersecurity. Such high numbers of scams and malware had never been recorded. From January to March for Clusit there were 571 serious attacks in the public domain. This term refers to attacks that have had a significant impact on the victims, both in terms of economic damage, reputation and dissemination of sensitive data. What is surprising is the variety of companies affected. Multinationals and large companies are at risk as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
The reasons for the growth of attacks
The increase in cyber attacks is due to two interrelated factors. In fact, in the last period, companies of all sizes are investing heavily on technologies useful for Industry 4.0. Such as connected objects, Internet of Things style, or smart autonomous machinery. At the same time, however, not all companies are clear on how to safely use these devices and especially how to protect them from network threats. And it should be pointed out that too often manufacturers do little to improve the situation. These vulnerabilities have been exploited by hackers to increase their profits by increasing the number of attacks on enterprises.
Ransomware, cyberespionage and enterprise devices
In 75% of cases according to the Clusit survey, enterprises have been hit by ransomware. And for the time being, the main purpose of cyber-attacks aimed at companies remains to extort money. Compared to 2016, however, the phenomenon of industrial espionage is growing by 126%. Companies often hire hackers to steal information from competitors or to damage and disable their machinery. Malware made to target a company’s mobile devices is also increasing dramatically. Viruses for iOS grew by 7% while there was a 13% increase for Android devices
Affected Sectors
The sectors most affected in Q1 2017 by computer viruses were: Research and Education, Critical Infrastructure and the Banking and Finance fields. Geographically, attacks on European-based entities are on the rise (from 16% in the second half of 2016 to 19% in the first half of 2017). Compared to the second half of 2016, in the first half of 2017, on the other hand, victims from the American (from 55% to 47%) and Asian (from 16% to 10%) areas decreased.