Newton, Mass., July 28, 2014 -- Sixty eight percent of businesses stated that the NSA breach by Edward Snowden and the number of retail/point of sale (PoS) system breaches in the past year were the most impactful in terms of changing security strategies to protect against the latest threats. The findings are part of CyberArk’s 8th Annual Global Advanced Threat Landscape survey – developed through interviews with 373 C-level and IT security executives across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The full survey can be downloaded for free here.
The majority of organizations surveyed believe that attacks reaching the privileged account takeover stage are the most difficult to detect, respond to and remediate. While the NSA breach is widely regarded as the prototypical insider-based attack, and the retail/PoS breaches are regarded similarly for outside attacks, the critical link between both attacks was the compromise and exploitation of privileged credentials.
Key findings of the 2014 survey include:
Snowden and Retail/PoS Breaches Influence Security Strategies the Most
When asked which cyber-attacks or data breaches in the past year had the biggest impact on their business’ security strategy:
Third-Party Privileged Access Emerges as Critical Security Vulnerability
As companies move to the cloud and streamline the supply chain by providing routine network access to third-parties, cyber-attackers are increasingly targeting these partners to steal and exploit their privileged access to the target company’s network. This pathway was used in some of the most devastating breaches in the last 12 months. The survey found:
Attackers are on the Inside – Protect Your Privileges
Organizations continue to face sophisticated and determined attackers seeking to infiltrate networks. Many organizations face daily perimeter-oriented attacks, such as phishing, designed to give attackers a foothold to steal the privileged credentials of an employee to give them defacto insider status. The survey found:
Other Findings of Note
Survey respondents stated that the following trends were the most impactful in terms of shaping and changing security strategies:
When asked whether their organization had or was considering deploying security analytics, this year’s survey found that:
Supporting Quotes
“Loss of IP and competitive advantage, diminishing brand value, loss of customers and negative shareholder impact are just a few of the business impacts many organizations felt as a result of cyber-attacks this year,” said Adam Bosnian, executive vice president, CyberArk. “This year’s survey results demonstrate that whether it’s an insider like Edward Snowden, or an outside-based attack like the retail/PoS breaches, attackers require the exploitation of insider credentials to successfully execute their attacks.”
Full Research Brief: www.cyberark.com/contact/global-advanced-threat-landscape-survey-2014 .
About CyberArk CyberArk is the only security company focused on eliminating the most advanced cyber threats; those that use insider privileges to attack the heart of the enterprise. Dedicated to stopping attacks before they stop business, CyberArk proactively secures against cyber threats before attacks can escalate and do irreparable damage. The company is trusted by the world’s leading companies – including more than 35 percent of the Fortune 100 and 17 of the world’s top 20 banks – to protect their highest value information assets, infrastructure and applications. A global company, CyberArk is headquartered in Petach Tikvah, Israel, with U.S. headquarters located in Newton, MA. The company also has offices throughout EMEA and Asia-Pacific. To learn more about CyberArk, visit www.cyberark.com , read the company blog, www.cyberark.com/blog/ , follow on Twitter @CyberArk or Facebook at www.facebook.com/CyberArk .
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Source: Company press release.
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