With Halloween just around the corner, it is useful to consider what might be spooking out the IT professional as the days draw in faster.
Each year, cybersecurity companies publish a number of research reports focusing on different aspects of cybersecurity and breach trends. Some of the most interesting findings for 2021 to date are outlined from the different cybersecurity firms. Such analysis included Bitglass, who have examined security threats throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts from Bitglass have found that stolen data has a wider reach and moves more quickly in 2021 compared with previous years. For example, breach data received over 13,200 views in 2021 compared with 1,100 views in 2015 (a 1,100% increase).
The company has also found that the Dark Web has become darker, as the number of anonymous viewers on the Dark Web in 2021 (93 percent) outnumber those in 2015 (67 percent).
While hackers are more generally seen as operating within rogue states, cybercriminals may be more of a “homegrown” threat than many believe. This is shown with downloads of the stolen data originating from the U.S. as the second-most frequent location (the top three were: Kenya, U.S., and Romania).
With difference sectors of the economy, healthcare has seemingly been hit hardest. The count of healthcare breaches reached 599 in 2020, representing a 55.1 percent increase since 2019 (at 386 incidences). Here, hacking and IT incidents were the top breach causes in healthcare in 2020, leading to 67.3 percent of compromises.
The big increase with home and remote working has enable many companies to thrive in the pandemic. In particular, the global pandemic forced organizations around the world to pivot to a remote style of operations. However, this form of working also introduces some security risks.
The biggest remote work security concerns stem from data leaking through endpoints (running at 68 percent), users connecting with unmanaged devices (at 59 percent), and access from outside the perimeter, meaning less anti-malware protection (standing at 56 percent).
Another measure of the impact during the year of disruption, 22 percent of organizations confirm that unmanaged devices accessing corporate resources have downloaded malware in the last 12 months. What is of particular concern with this measure is that an alarming 49 percent of those businesses impacted are unsure or unable to disclose whether the same could be said of them.
