It can sometimes feel like the world’s troubles are a distant affair, but that has not been so in the last 12 months. Just as events in Ukraine have hit everyone’s cost of living, so the impact of global cyber security issues will impact on your firm’s need for IT support services in Essex.
Any company, large or small, can be targeted by cyber criminals and the level of threat across the world has been highlighted in a new report by US security firm Armis.
In its Armis State of Cyberwarfare and Trends Report 2022-23, the firm noted that even large global organisations, which one might assume are not short of financial resources or labour to dedicate to such tasks, are underprepared for the threat of cyber attacks. It found 33 per cent do not take the threat seriously enough, while 24 per cent feel they are not sufficiently prepared for the threat.
Moreover, it found broad agreement that international events have increased the danger. Three out of five IT professionals agreed with the statement that ‘The war in Ukraine has created a greater threat of cyberwarfare.’
Indeed, 54 per cent of those who were the sole IT decision makers for their firms said they encountered more threat activity on their networks between May and October 2022 than in the previous six months.
Co-founder of Armis Nadir Izrael said: “Clandestine cyberwarfare is rapidly becoming a thing of the past,” with nation states openly launching “brazen” attacks.
He added: “Based on these trends, all organisations should consider themselves possible targets for cyberwarfare attacks and secure their assets accordingly.”
As if to prove the point, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre has just issued a warning of targeted spear-phishing attacks against organisations and individuals coming from Russia and Iran.
It named Russian group SEABORGIUM and Iran-based group TA453 as perpetrators of similar attacks over the course of 2022.
