Kaspersky Lab finds corporate threats in latest survey

According to a recent survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International, 91% of the organizations polled suffered a cyber-attack at least once in the preceding 12-month period, while 9% were the victims of targeted attacks – carefully planned activity aimed at infecting the network infrastructure of a specific organization. The survey also showed that companies are increasingly falling victim to cyber-attacks. The extensive use of digital devices in business has created ideal conditions for cyber-espionage and the deployment of malware capable of stealing corporate data.
The parties concerned and the attackers’ goals 2013 saw some major disclosures about spyware-led attacks that were related, directly or indirectly, to the activities of various governments’ agencies. Other significant actors on the corporate cyber threat scene were businesses that turned to cybercriminals to penetrate their competitors’ networks. Outsourced cybercriminal forces performed operations that were usually aimed at stealing information.

“Cybercriminals are continuously improving their malware, using unconventional approaches and solutions, from so-called encryptors and shredders that spread like the plague in a corporate environment, to an army of zombies that devours every available resource on web servers and data transfer networks. In 2013, we also fixed first case of targeting supply chains – not being able to reach big organizations, cybercriminals get their ‘weak point’, compromising contractors, as in the Icefog attacks,” commented  Vitaly Kamluk, Principal Security Researcher of Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team.

Other attacks were based on sabotage – using malicious programs to wipe data or block infrastructure operations. Some special Trojan programs were capable of stealing money via online banking systems.