Exposing Cybercrime As A Business Model

Trustwave has released a report which reveals the top cybercrime, data breach and security threat trends from 2015. Experts gathered real-world data from hundreds of breach investigations the company conducted in 2015 across 17 countries.

The Contributing Factors To Compromised Security: 

Weak application security: 97 percent of applications tested by Trustwave in 2015 had at least one vulnerability. 10% of the vulnerabilities discovered were rated as critical or high risk. The median number of vulnerabilities discovered per application by the Trustwave Managed Security Testing service was 14.

Where security incidents occur: 35 percent of data breach investigations conducted by Trustwave occurred in North America, 21 percent were in the Asia-Pacific Region, 12 percent were in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 10 percent were in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Who criminals target: Retail was the most compromised industry, making up 23 percent of Trustwave investigations, followed by hospitality at 14 percent and food and beverage at 10 percent.

Shift in compromised environments: Compromises affecting corporate and internal networks increased to 40 percent in 2015, up from 18 percent in 2014. 38 percent of investigations were of e-commerce breaches, compared to 42 percent in 2014. Twenty-two percent were of point-of-sale (POS) breaches. POS compromises decreased eighteen percentage points from 2014 to 2015, making up 40 percent of Trustwave investigations in 2014 and 33 percent in 2013.

Magento is a target: 85% of compromised e-commerce systems used the Magento open source platform. At least five critical Magento vulnerabilities were identified in 2015, and most of the affected systems were not fully updated with security patches.

Data most targeted: In 60% of investigations, attackers were after payment card data, split about evenly between card track (magnetic stripe) data (31 percent of incidents), which came mainly from POS environments, and card-not-present (CNP) data (29 percent), which mostly came from e-commerce transactions.

Self-detection of breaches: The majority of victims, 59 percent, did not detect breaches themselves. The report reveals that self-detection leads to quicker containment of a breach. Self-detection increased from 19% in 2014 to 41% in 2015. In 2015, for self-detected breaches, a median of 15 days elapsed from intrusion to containment. For breaches detected by an external party, a median of 168 days elapsed from intrusion to containment.

Malvertising goes mainstream: The Trustwave analysis of the RIG exploit kit, the most prominent exploit kit of 2014 and the third most prominent in 2015, shows that approximately 90 percent of traffic to the kit originates from malicious advertisements. Even some of the largest ad networks have been misused by attackers to spread malware to unsuspecting users visiting popular websites.

Shifting spam subjects: In 2014, pharmaceutical product spam made up almost three-fourths of the spam messages Trustwave analyzed. In 2015, that portion dropped dramatically, to 39 percent, which was still enough to make it the largest share of any category. Spam related to online dating sites and adult products made a combined five-fold leap from 6% in 2014 to 30% in 2015. Five percent of overall spam included a malicious attachment or link, a 1-point decrease from 2014.

The Year of Angler: Angler, the most prevalent exploit kit of 2015, accounted for 40 percent of exploit kit-related incidents we observed, more than twice as many as the next most prevalent kit, Nuclear. Angler was also the first exploit kit to integrate several newly disclosed exploits, including four zero-day exploits and seven “one-day” exploits, which target vulnerabilities for which patches have been released but have not yet been widely distributed.
 
“Cybercriminals have been congregating and organizing for years, but 2015 showed a marked increase in the behavior we would normally associate with legitimate businesses,” said Trustwave CEO and President Robert J. McCullen. “Based on the study of numerous security incidents, exploit kits and Malvertising campaigns, our 2016 Trustwave Global Security Report shows businesses how and where these sophisticated criminal organizations are most likely to attack, and more importantly, how to defend their assets.”
HelpNetSecurity: http://bit.ly/1VEFbbT

« Spying On You In Britain
Tech Jobs Would Be Great, If It Wasn’t For The Users »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

Dark Reading

Dark Reading

Dark Reading is the most trusted online community for security professionals.

Site24x7

Site24x7

Site24x7 is an all-in-one performance monitoring solution for Networks, Websites, Servers and Applications.

MSG Systems

MSG Systems

MSG are committed to intelligent IT and industry solutions and offer independent consulting on all aspects of information security.

Zecurion

Zecurion

Zecurion data loss prevention (DLP) solution is an easy-to-use solution for securing confidential data at rest and in motion.

Aspen Insurance

Aspen Insurance

Aspen is a leading diversified specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Products offered include cyber insurance.

Cog Systems

Cog Systems

Cog Systems offer an embedded solution built on modularity, proactive security, trustworthiness, and adaptability to enable highly secure connected devices.

QOMPLX

QOMPLX

QOMPLX integrate, contextualize, and analyze data from virtually any source to help you identify operational risk and inefficiencies throughout the enterprise.

Bl4ckswan

Bl4ckswan

Bl4ckswan is a Management Consulting firm specialized in the delivery of information security and compliance services.

Rentalworks

Rentalworks

Rentalworks is a leading provider of Internet-of-Things (IoT) Asset Lifecycle Management Services including secure data erasure and disposal.

NSA Career Development Programs

NSA Career Development Programs

NSA offers entry-level programs to help employees enhance their skills, improve their understanding of a specific discipline and even cross-train into a new career field.

BLUECYFORCE

BLUECYFORCE

BLUECYFORCE is the leading professional training and cyber defense training organization in France.

Russell Reynolds Associates

Russell Reynolds Associates

Russell Reynolds Associates is a global leadership advisory and search firm with functional expertise in Digital Leadership, Data & Analytics, and Compliance.

Cloud Range

Cloud Range

Cloud Range provides cybersecurity teams with access to the world's leading cyber range platform, eliminating the need to invest in costly cyber range infrastructure.

Gunnison Consulting Group

Gunnison Consulting Group

Gunnison Consulting Group serves the Federal Government with high quality IT consulting services.

TokenEx

TokenEx

TokenEx Cloud Security Platform protects sensitive data to strengthen our clients' security postures while future-proofing their operations.

Zenzero

Zenzero

Zenzero simplifies technology adoption and supports our customers through managed and outsourced IT support.