Intelligent CISO Issue 16 | Page 18

cyber trends IT managers inundated with cyberattacks from all directions . . . . SOPHOS, A GLOBAL LEADER IN NETWORK AND ENDPOINT SECURITY, HAS ANNOUNCED THE FINDINGS OF ITS SURVEY, THE IMPOSSIBLE PUZZLE OF CYBERSECURITY. R esearch carried out by Sophos has revealed that IT managers are inundated with cyberattacks coming from all directions and are struggling to keep up due to a lack of security expertise, budget and up to date technology. The survey polled 3,100 IT decision makers from mid-sized businesses in the US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, India and South Africa. Cybercriminals use multiple attack methods and payloads for maximum impact The Sophos survey shows how attack techniques are varied and often multi-staged, increasing the difficulty to defend networks. One in five IT 18 managers surveyed didn’t know how they were breached and the diversity of attack methods means no one defensive strategy is a silver bullet. “Cybercriminals are evolving their attack methods and often use multiple payloads to maximise profits. Software exploits were the initial point of entry in 23% of incidents, but they were also used in some fashion in 35% of all attacks, demonstrating how exploits are used at multiple stages of the attack chain,” said Chester Wisniewski, Principal Research Scientist, Sophos. “Organisations that are only patching externally facing high-risk servers are left vulnerable internally and cybercriminals are taking advantage of this and other security lapses.” The wide range, multiple stages and scale of today’s attacks are proving effective. For example, 53% of those who fell victim to a cyberattack were hit by a phishing email and 30% by Issue 16 | www.intelligentciso.com