The Average Company Faced 100+ Successful Cyberattacks in 2013 [Study]

Today’s IP news roundup highlights some of the latest headlines in network, cyber and data security:

• Respondents to Ponemon Institute’s latest global cyber crime study experienced an average of 1.4 successful cyberattacks per week in 2013. This is an increase of 20% from last year. The attacks cost respondents $7.2 million per year.

The study states that the “cost of cyber crime appears to vary by industry segment, where organizations in defense, financial services and energy and utilities experience substantially higher cyber crime costs than organizations in retail, media and consumer products.”

Companies that have good security technologies and governance policies in place can also reduce their cyber crime spending. For more information, download the Ponemon 2013 Cost of Cyber Crime Study: Global Report.

• New exploit alert: According to a Computerworld article, “Attackers are actively exploiting a known vulnerability to compromise JBoss Java EE application servers that expose the HTTP Invoker service to the Internet in an insecure manner.” The article states that the number of vulnerable servers has more than tripled from 2011. For more information about JBoss exploits, as well as a link to instructions on how to secure your JBoss installation, see Computerworld.
• Help Net Security made predictions about the future of network security. According to the blog, “2014 is the year businesses will finally realize that leveraging the Internet for business growth also means that responding to incidents is par for the course.” One of the predictions is an increase in two-factor authentication. The article states that major services – such as LinkedIn and Google – have already implemented two-factor authentication to better protect user passwords, and more vendors are likely to do the same. For more predictions about the future of network security, see Help Net Security.
• Edward Snowden told a Dutch newspaper that the NSA used malware to steal information from over 50,000 global networks. According to SC Magazine, “Some of the malware was said to remain undetected on networks for years. The NSA attacks were reportedly carried out by a special department known as Tailored Access Operations (TAO), which was said to employ more than a thousand hackers.” For more on the latest from Snowden, see SC Magazine.
• And finally … the CSO Security and Risk blog posted a slide presentation that shows you five ways to lock down your mobile device. According to the presentation, “Locking your mobile device is important because it’s often your first line of defense. It may not be the strongest form of security, but it could prove to be the difference in protecting your organization by keeping the device locked down until mobile device management measures like remote wiping are put into play.” This may be a good resource to share with your employees.

What is your take on today’s news? Please share your opinions below.