In the first half of the year, the ransomware 'Wannacry' and others were responsible for large-scale cyber attacks that affected hundreds of businesses. Cisco's 2017 mid-year cybersecurity report is as relevant as ever for businesses to read and evaluate their own security threats and defense strategies.
This Cisco report reveals new strategies cybercriminals are using to attack your data. Their goal is no longer to just attack a network, but to destroy it, preventing defenders from restoring the system and data. This new attack is called: destruction of services (DeOS).
Attackers are also now moving to old tools like business email compromise (BEC) and social engineering, to penetrate networks.
With the expansion of internet of things devices and systems (Iot-DDoS), attackers have more points of entry to a network than ever. This is because most mobile devices were never designed to protect themselves against full-scale cyber attacks. IoT devices present an opportunity for hackers to build botnets that can launch DDoS attacks more powerful than we’ve seen in the past.
Based on the number and complexity of IoT devices, an attack on these devices could have an effect so wide-reaching, it could disrupt the Internet itself.
The way attackers are delivering malware is also evolving. The most common way of delivering malware requires users to take action to activate the threat, like opening an email, clicking a link, or downloading a file. By having a user download the malicious file, attackers make sure the malware can’t be detected in a sandbox environment. If you want to know more ways to defend your business from ransomware attacks, check out the Ransomware Defense for Dummies report.
The good news is that with new threats come new defense tactics for prevention, detection, and remediation. Security companies are identifying known threats as quickly as possible to develop and improve prevention efforts and protect businesses. It is important to understand the specific security challenges your industry might be facing and prioritize your defense tactics.
Learn more about new security threats in The Cisco 2017 Mid-year Cybersecurity Report, and use the guide Ransomware Defense for Dummies to start building your cybersecurity strategy.
