OXFORD, UK — 七月 10, 2019 —

Sophos (LSE: SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced the findings of its global survey, The Impossible Puzzle of Cybersecurity, which reveals 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 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 maximize profits. Software exploits were the initial point of entry in 23 percent of incidents, but they were also used in some fashion in 35 percent of all attacks, demonstrating how exploits are used at multiple stages of the attack chain,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos. “Organizations 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 percent of those who fell victim to a cyberattack were hit by a phishing email, and 30 percent by ransomware. Forty-one percent said they suffered a data breach.

Weak Links in Security Increasingly Lead to Supply Chain Compromises

Based on the responses, it’s not surprising that 75 percent of IT managers consider software exploits, unpatched vulnerabilities and/or zero-day threats as a top security risk. Fifty percent consider phishing a top security risk. Alarmingly, only 16 percent of IT managers consider supply chain a top security risk, exposing an additional weak spot that cybercriminals will likely add to their repertoire of attack vectors.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for a way into an organization, and supply chain attacks are ranking higher now on their list of methods. IT managers should prioritize supply chain as a security risk, but don’t because they consider these attacks perpetrated by nation states on high profile targets. While it is true that nation states may have created the blueprints for these attacks, once these techniques are publicized, other cybercriminals often adopt them for their ingenuity and high success rate,” said Wisniewski. “Supply chain attacks are also an effective way for cybercriminals to carry out automated, active attacks, where they select a victim from a larger pool of prospects and then actively hack into that specific organization using hand-to-keyboard techniques and lateral movements to evade detection and reach their destination.”

Lack of Security Expertise, Budget and Up to Date Technology

According to the Sophos survey, IT managers reported that 26 percent of their team’s time is spent managing security, on average. Yet, 86 percent agree security expertise could be improved and 80 percent want a stronger team in place to detect, investigate and respond to security incidents.  Recruiting talent is also an issue, with 79 percent saying that recruiting people with the cybersecurity skills they need is challenge.

Regarding budget, 66 percent said their organization’s cybersecurity budget (including people and technology) is below what it needs to be. Having current technology in place is another problem, with 75 percent agreeing that staying up to date with cybersecurity technology is a challenge for their organization. This lack of security expertise, budget and up to date technology indicates IT managers are struggling to respond to cyberattacks instead of proactively planning and handling what’s coming next

“Staying on top of where threats are coming from takes dedicated expertise, but IT managers often have a hard time finding the right talent or don’t have a proper security system in place that allows them to respond quickly and efficiently to attacks,” said Wisniewski. “If organizations can adopt a security system with products that work together to share intelligence and automatically react to threats, then IT security teams can avoid the trap of perpetually catching up after yesterday’s attack and better defend against what’s going to happen tomorrow. Having a security ‘system’ in place helps alleviate the security skills gap IT managers are facing. It’s much more time and cost effective for businesses to grow their security maturity with simple to use tools that coordinate with each other across an entire estate.”

Synchronized Security Solves the Impossible Puzzle of Cybersecurity

With cyberthreats coming from supply chain attacks, phishing emails, software exploits, vulnerabilities, insecure wireless networks, and much more, businesses need a security solution that helps them eliminate gaps and better identify previously unseen threats. Sophos Synchronized Security, a single integrated system, provides this much needed visibility to threats by integrating Sophos endpoint, network, mobile, Wi-Fi, and encryption products to share information in real-time and automatically respond to incidents. More information about Synchronized Security is available at Sophos.com.

 

The Impossible Puzzle of Cybersecurity survey was conducted by Vanson Bourne, an independent specialist in market research, in December 2018 and January 2019. This survey interviewed 3,100 IT decision makers in 12 countries and across six continents in the US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, India, and South Africa. All respondents were from organizations with between 100 and 5,000 employees.

关于 Sophos

Sophos 是全球领先的网络安全公司,凭借其人工智能驱动的平台和专家主导的服务,保护着全球 60 万家组织的安全。Sophos 根据各组织在不同安全成熟度的各式各样的需求提供支持,并与其共同成长,携手应对日益严峻的网络攻击。其解决方案结合机器学习、自动化、实时威胁情报以及来自 Sophos X-Ops 的前线真人专家的专业知识,提供 24/7 全天候高级威胁监控、侦测与响应服务。
Sophos 提供行业领先的托管式侦测与响应 (MDR) 服务,同时配备一整套全面的网络安全技术组合,包括端点、网络、电子邮件和云安全、扩展式侦测与响应 (XDR)、身份辨识威胁侦测与响应 (ITDR),以及下一代 SIEM。结合专家咨询服务,这些能力帮助组织主动降低风险,并更迅速地响应,提供力求在不断变化的威胁面前保持领先所需的可见性和可扩展性。
Sophos 通过全球合作伙伴生态系统进入市场,包括托管式服务提供商 (MSPs)、托管式安全服务提供商 (MSSPs)、经销商、分销商、市场集成商以及网络风险合作伙伴,为组织提供灵活的选择,使其能够在保护业务安全的同时建立值得信赖的合作关系。  Sophos 总部位于英国牛津。如欲了解更多信息,请访问 www.sophos.cn。