Written by Tim Deakin

10th October 2022

• Cyber Security

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Now is the time to brush up your knowledge about the digital threats facing your business

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month – a time for all businesses to review and re-evaluate their security measures. Cybercrime levels are consistently on the rise, so if you need some motivation to improve your business defences, we’ve got you covered.

Here are five reasons why organisations should be paying close attention to their risk of cybercrime.

Phishing attack rates are on the rise

Last quarter saw the largest number of phishing attempts on businesses ever. That’s according to the latest Anti-Phishing Working Group, Phishing Activity Trends Report. The second quarter of 2022 alone observed more than 1 million phishing attacks, with the financial sector remaining the top target. Other common targets were webmail providers, software-as-a-service providers, cryptocurrency and social media sites.

There was also a significant surge in mobile phone based fraud, with an almost 70% increase in volume compared to Q1 of 2022. This includes fraud attempts on apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat and Facebook Messenger, as well as SMS-based fraud.

Find out more about our phishing and social engineering testing services.

Hackers can break through business barriers in less than 5 hours

In a survey by the SANS Institute, around 40% of ethical hackers said they can break into most of the business environments they test, and nearly 60% said they need five hours or less to do so once they identify a weakness.

Hackers require around five hours to complete each stage of the chain of a cyberattack, including reconnaissance, exploitation, privilege escalation and data exfiltration. This means the entire process takes less than 24 hours, according to the SANS ethical hacking survey, which collected responses from more than 300 ethical hackers.

The education sector is at particular risk of ransomware attacks

A new survey from Sophos has found that colleges and universities are particularly at risk of ransomware, being hit harder and longer than other kinds of organisations.

Almost two thirds of higher education organisations have been impacted by a ransomware attack in the last twelve months, as have more than half of lower education institutions. This marks a significant climb from 44% of respondents across lower and higher education organisations in 2020.

More organisations had a cloud-related security incident last year than didn’t

According to research from Venafi, more than 80% of organisations have experienced a cloud-based security incident within the past 12 months. What’s more, almost half of these organisations reported at least four incidents during this period.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, companies have been undergoing rapid digital transformations, with remote working and the cloud playing vital roles. When asked, more than half of organisations said they consider the risk of security incidents to be higher in the cloud compared to on-premises environments. Despite this, the cloud is quickly becoming intrinsic to modern business practices.

Half of global firms supply chains are compromised by ransomware

Businesses are often targeted by hackers via their supply chain, due to a lack of control over the level of cybersecurity at every stage. According to new research from global cybersecurity company Trend Micro, 79% of global IT leaders believe their partners and customers are compromising their security, making their own organisation a more attractive ransomware target.

Supply chains made up of multiple vendors are often the top target for cyber criminals, meaning businesses need to take the time to authenticate, validate and protect their supply chains.

Get in touch with the SRM team this Cyber Security Awareness Month to find out how we can help you bolster your business defences and avoid a data disaster.