In the report, Alert Logic employed ActiveAnalytics, its big data security analytics engine, to analyse one billion events in the IT environments of more than 3,000 of its customers between January 1 and December 31, 2014 to identify more than 800,000 security incidents. Insights were gleaned from customer environments representing all deployment models – on premises, in the cloud and hosted, and a vast array of market segments and industries. The analysis of the data uncovers many findings including ones that point to new trends in cyber security, the validation of findings from previous reports and deeper insight into how cyber attackers operate and how companies can better and more proactively secure their IT environments.
Some key findings in the new report include the following:
•Top cyberattack methods aimed at cloud deployments grew 45 percent, 36 percent and 27 percent respectively over the previous year, while top attacks aimed at on-premises deployments remained relatively flat. Alert Logic attributes this increase in cloud attacks as being driven by the overall strong adoption of cloud computing platforms. In other words, cyber criminals are logically attempting to break into a growing number of applications being deployed in the cloud.
•The type of cyber-attack perpetrated against a company is determined more by how it interacts with its customers and the size of its online presence than by where its IT infrastructure resides. Understanding this threat profile can help a company determine which type of cyber-attack it is most vulnerable to, as well as the type and size of the security investment required to keep them safe.
•Understanding the Cyber Kill Chain can give insight into where cyber criminals are more likely to breach a company’s environment and how they can be stopped. This representation of the attack flow can help organisations target a defense strategy based on the way attackers approach infiltrating their businesses.
The report also identifies the specific cyber threats faced by different industries, including Advertising, Accounting/Management, Computer Services, Mining, Financial, Real Estate, Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing and Transportation. Additionally, the report provides a more detailed analysis of three industries in particular: Mining, Oil/Gas & Energy; Retail and Financial Services.
“While cybercriminals are increasingly targeting cloud deployments, on-premises deployments are still being targeted at the same frequency as they always were,” said Will Semple, Vice President of Security Services for Alert Logic. “The key to protecting your critical data is being knowledgeable about how and where along the Cyber Kill Chain attackers infiltrate systems and to employ the right security tools, practices and resource investment to combat them.”