Research by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International has shown that 91 per cent of organisations globally experienced cyberattacks at least once in the last year, with nine per cent victims of targeted attacks.
The research said the extensive use of digital devices in business has created ideal conditions for cyber-espionage and the deployment of malware capable of stealing corporate data.
Focused on corporate threats, the report said the potential is so great that malicious programmes may soon completely replace company insiders as the primary way of gathering information.
“Mass distribution of malicious programmes can affect any company, even a small commercial organisation, resulting in the loss of money and intellectual property,” said Vitaly Kamluk, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
“Cybercriminals are continuously improving their malware, using unconventional approaches and solutions, from so-called encryptors and shredders that spread like the plague in a corporate environment, to an army of zombies that devours every available resource on web servers and data transfer networks.”
The report showed that outsourced cybercriminal forces performed operations that were usually aimed at stealing information.
Other attacks were based on sabotage where criminals used malicious programmes to wipe data or block infrastructure operations.
“Some special Trojan programmes were capable of stealing money via online banking systems. Cybercriminals could also compromise corporate sites and redirect visitors to malicious resources, damaging a company’s reputation,” said the report.
According to Kaspersky financial losses were caused by a DDoS attack, which can close down a company’s public-facing web resources for several days.
“Clients start looking for a more reliable company, which results in long-term financial losses,” said Kaspersky.
The end-point protection solutions company said that 2013 saw the rise of “cyber-mercenaries” targeting large numbers of organisations from almost all sectors.
“They stayed in compromised networks for weeks and even months at a time, stealing every shred of information they could get,” said the report.
However, Kaspersky said their approach stands less and less chance of going unnoticed for long, damaging their prospects of success.
The overview also covered the consequences of the infamous government-related disclosures, which the report said could potentially lead to a kind of de-globalisation and greater interest in creating national equivalents of global services.
“Those new national software products and services delivered by local manufacturers may not be of the same quality as those of the larger international companies. The investigation of cyber-attacks suggests that the smaller and less experienced the software developer is, the more vulnerabilities will be found in its code. As a result targeted attacks become easier and more effective,” said the report.
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock
