New research shows that most cyberattacks impacting businesses are “known” or common threats according to the latest AT&T Cybersecurity Insights report, The CEO’s Guide to Navigating the Threat Landscape.
With the continued talk of cyber terrorism and threats to businesses, governments and infrastructure, the hype and uncertainty around cybersecurity and vulnerabilities make it seems as though cyberattacks are unstoppable. But more than 90 percent of attacks seen over the course of the last year were “known,” meaning, with the right security measures in place, these attacks might have been prevented.
“The daunting depiction of newly discovered security threats often gets attention from media and business leaders alike. But in fact, most attackers are targeting businesses using forms of attacks we already know about and can help defend against,” said Mo Katibeh, senior vice president of Advanced Solutions at AT&T, in a press release. “In today’s digital age, businesses need to remain vigilant about deploying and updating core security protections, and in educating employees on how their actions might impact the company’s security.”
Among the findings include:
- 90 percent of companies experienced a malware attack, where infected software infiltrated their network in the past year.
- Ransomware, where attackers threaten an attack in exchange for money or valuable information, and information-stealing software attacks increased sevenfold between July and August 2016.
- In the past year, 73 percent of companies suffered at least one Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
“The daunting depiction of newly discovered security threats often gets attention from media and business leaders alike. But in fact, most attackers are targeting businesses using forms of attacks we already know about and can help defend against,” said Mo Katibeh, senior vice president of Advanced Solutions at AT&T, in a press release. “In today’s digital age, businesses need to remain vigilant about deploying and updating core security protections, and in educating employees on how their actions might impact the company’s security.”
AT&T suggests the following steps as essential and recommends that every business should:
- Build your defenses around known threats
- Create a security culture within your organization
- Keep current with security patches, logs, and software updates
- Implement new technologies with security in mind
You can check out the full report here.