GEC NEWS WIREInfoblox released results of a new study that identifies the top threats, risks and fears related to securing data assets and keeping networks secure. The survey, conducted by SANS and co-sponsored by Infoblox, found that ransomware, insider threats and denial of service are considered the top three threats organizations face when it comes to securing sensitive data.
According to the study, 78% of respondents’ report encountering two or more threats to their data in the past 12 months, while 12% actually encountered a breach, with 43% of those encountering exfiltration of sensitive data through encrypted channels. User credentials and privileged account information, known as access data, represented the most common data types involved in these breaches, spotlighting the fact that privileged data is prized by attackers — proving more desirable to them than sensitive data being targeted for financial gain or destruction.
“This shows how highly attackers prize access data,” said Sean Tierney, Director of Threat Intelligence at Infoblox. “It’s proving more desirable to them than sensitive data being targeted for financial gain or destruction because it opens the door to significantly more exploitation opportunities.”
Cherif Sleiman, VP, EMEA at Infoblox says, “The study provides intelligence for enterprises in the Middle East to take immediate action to protect against cyber threats and breaches. One of the takeaways from the report is for companies to consider insider threat and user access compromise as two sides of the same risk coin. The key is to leverage tools for manual classification and enable realtime warnings not just to alert users that they are engaging in potentially dangerous activities, but to educate them as to why these activities are dangerous and how to prevent such actions in the future.”
