Cybercrime Increases As Crooks Get AI Smarter

Symantec's 2016 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) reveals that the year 2015 saw an increase in hacking numbers and smarter attacks.

The report concludes that, each week, a new zero-day vulnerability was discovered; stolen or lost records were estimated to be around half a billion; about three-quarters of websites were found to have vulnerabilities; employees targeted by spear-phishing campaigns saw a 55 percent increase in occurrence; ransomware attacks increased to 35 percent; and the number of fake technical support scams prevented reached about 100 million instances.

And these are just the recorded facts.

Hackers are getting so much craftier and smarter that victims don't even realize that they're under attack. Attacks have become more, subtle and even stealthier. Users are lucky if they catch the attack, but those unaware of threats often suffer major damages in properties.

In 2015, a new zero-day vulnerability was discovered each week, totaling 54 vulnerabilities, more than double the number back in 2014. These attacks are possible because of vulnerabilities found in programs that hackers exploit even before developers can come up with a patch.

The Case of Adobe

Four out of the five most exploited apps were on Flash Player. Adobe comments in an interview that, to avoid such attacks, users should always update their system to the latest patch.

The company believes that, since Flash Player is installed in every system, it's the target of most zero-day vulnerability attacks. Adobe assures users that, once an attack is detected, the company is quick to respond and rolls out a patch in a matter of days. It's now up to the user to make sure that they protect themselves.

Symantec found that breached companies would sometimes withhold information and not release the full report of attacks on their system. As such, not only were there 429 million records hackers mined from vulnerable companies, but more than half a billion could have been compromised, as estimated in the ISTR.

Staying Alert Against Recurring Attacks

Three-quarters of websites were found to be vulnerable to attacks as well. To this day, 75 percent of legitimate web companies have vulnerabilities in their system, putting online users at risk. Hackers can infect a trusted website which, when logged into, would spread the infection to unsuspecting users.

Symantec's ISTR detailed how "web administrators struggle to stay current on patches," allowing millions of attacks against Netizens every day. Experts warn that, if a first attack is prevented, companies should still stay alert for recurring attacks in the future. The ISTR found that most hackers who are fixated on hacking a particular system will not easily give up and will retry at a later date.

Forms of Cyber Attack

Particular strands of these attacks used ransomware to extort money from companies. Ransomware is a malware infection that encrypts a system's date then demands ransom from affected parties to supposedly "decrypt" the files.

Hackers would also reportedly disguise themselves as tech support specialists who help clean out a system for malware infection. In reality, however, these supposed experts would be disabling virus protection, updates, and notifications, thereby increasing vulnerabilities in a system. Symantec blocked 100 million of these attacks in 2015.

Symantec predict that, in the year 2020, the risk of attacks could grow to 20.8 billion against "internet-connected" things.

TechTimes: http://bit.ly/1pp9Ko1

« On the Brink of Cyber War…
How To Deal With The Rising Tide Of Ransomware »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC (formerly Reciprocity) is a leader in the GRC SaaS landscape, offering robust and intuitive products designed to make compliance straightforward and efficient.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

JumpCloud

JumpCloud

JumpCloud's Directory-as-a-Service (DaaS) is the single point of authority to authenticate, authorize, and manage the identities of a business’s employees and the systems and IT resources they need.

National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) - France

National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) - France

The role of Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information (ANSSI) is to foster a coordinated, ambitious, pro-active response to cybersecurity issues in France.

Sasa Software

Sasa Software

Sasa Software is a cybersecurity software developer specializing in the prevention of file-based network attacks.

Oneconsult

Oneconsult

Oneconsult provides cyber security services focusing on penetration tests / ethical hacking, ISO 27001 security audits and incident response & IT forensics.

Gospel Technology

Gospel Technology

Gospel presents a totally new way of accessing and controlling data which is enterprise grade scalable, highly resilient, and secure.

Kapalya

Kapalya

Kapalya empowers businesses and their employees to securely store sensitive files at-rest and in-transit across multiple platforms through a user-friendly desktop and mobile application.

Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm, synchronizing strategy and talent to drive superior performance for our clients in key areas including cybersecurity.

Aurora Systems Consulting

Aurora Systems Consulting

Aurora is a Cybersecurity solutions provider with a portfolio consisting of security consulting, products and services that proactively prevent, secure and manage advanced threats and malware.

InfoSystems Inc

InfoSystems Inc

InfoSystems provides reliable IT solutions to build and maintain strong and secure systems for both SMB and enterprise organizations.

TWC IT Solutions

TWC IT Solutions

Since 2011, TWC IT Solutions has offered managed IT Support, Cybersecurity, Disaster Recovery, Contact Centre and Business Connectivity services to clients across 24 countries globally.

Secure Cyber Defense

Secure Cyber Defense

Secure Cyber Defense provides expert cybersecurity consulting and managed detection and response services to companies, local government, schools and universities.

RevealSecurity

RevealSecurity

RevealSecurity's TrackerIQ detects malicious activities in enterprise applications.

Autobahn Security

Autobahn Security

Autobahn Security is a growing team of 80+ experts from 25+ nationalities, established in 5 countries. We’re working hard to make Autobahn Security the No. 1 solution for improved hacking-resilience.

Cynch Security

Cynch Security

Cynch Security are passionate about building a world where every business is resilient to cybersecurity risks, no matter what their size.

Integrated Cyber Solutions (ICS)

Integrated Cyber Solutions (ICS)

Integrated Cyber Solutions is a managed security service provider that humanizes cybersecurity managed services to the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) and Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) sectors.

Orca Fraud

Orca Fraud

Orca is an AI-driven fraud orchestration platform. We empower fraud fighters to outpace fraud using our custom ML models.