The Briefing on Cybersecurity

The latest news, trends and data from the cybersecurity industry

In Data:

Cybersecurity News in Numbers

75%

The percentage of business that are likely to or definitely have experienced a material cyberattack or data breach within the last year as a result of a compromised application, according to research by Arxan Technologies. The result of a survey of 1,400 IT professionals across three continents, the research also found only a quarter of companies are taking adequate steps to improve application security.

16,500

The number of forgotten machine identities the average company has on their system, each of which is vulnerable to attack. According to Venafi, the increase in internet of things-enabled devices will increase the number of such indentities, creating an increased risk of cyberattacks for businesses. 

89%

The percentage of global banks that rank cyber and data security as the leading priority for 2018, according to research by Turner Little, which was based on a survey of 221 financial institutions. 85% of banks also plan to implement digital transformation this year, according to the research.

$73.3bn

The projected value of the bring-your-own-device and enterprise mobility market by 2021. However, the majority of businesses report an upswing in cybersecurity incidents with the implementation of BYOD, making this growth a key concern.

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$75,000 – $100,000 

The current median salary of global cybersecurity professionals, according to the Exabeam 2018 Cyber Security Professionals Salary and Job Report. The report also found that 34% of professionals earn over $100,000 a year. However, qualifications vary wildly, with over 150 reported in the survey.

400%

The rate of increase in ransomware attacks between 2016 and 2017, according to research by F-Secure. The majority of these attacks were due to WannaCry, however other forms of ransomware attack now appear to be in decline.

In the News

Key Enterprise Cybersecurity Stories

European Regulators Not Ready for GDPR

Despite the General Data Protection Regulation coming into force on the 25th May, a significant portion of the country-specific authorities are not ready to begin policing the law. Research by Reuters found that 17 out of the 24 authorities that responded lacked either the power or funding to begin work on the start date.

5m US Shoppers at Risk in Data Breach

The credit and debit card data of an estimated 5m customers of US department stores Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth and Lord & Taylor has been compromised, according to a disclosure by parent company Hudson’s Bay. According to The Guardian, the breach began a year ago, with data recently appearing for sale on the dark web.

Under Armour Hit by App Data Breach

Under Armour-owned food and nutrition app MyFitnessPal has been the subject of a severe data breach, which is thought to have affected 150 million users. Data inpacted by the breach is reported to include  include usernames, email addresses and hashed passwords, according to CNBC, and prompted a 3.8% drop in Under Armour's share value.

Cybersecurity Defence:

This Month's Cyber Warfare News

White House Drops Key Cybersecurity Role

The White House has taken the decision to eliminate the role of cyber coordinator following the resignation of postholder Rob Joyce. The move, which has attracted criticism given the importance of cybersecurity in the current political climate, has been made to "streamline authority for National Security Council Senior Directors", according to a statement by the Whitehouse National Security Council.

Source: CNN

Kaspersky Slapped with Twitter Ad Ban

Twitter has banned Russian cybersecurity software provider Kaspersky from advertising on its platform in response to claims by the US government that the company has ties to Russian intelligence agencies. Kaspersky has repeatedly denied the allegations, and has offered to open its operations up for a code inspection, but has been met by growing hostility from US companies. 

Source: Reuters

US Blames Russia for Energy Grid Attacks

The US Government has accused Russia of undertaking a series of attacks on its energy grid and other critical infrastructure, claiming that it has found malware that it has attributed to the country on multiple companies' systems. The announcement came as the US increased sanctions against Russia  in response to its alleged interference in the US elections.

Source: The Guardian

Britain Urged to Launch Cyberattacks

Britain needs to be prepared to go on the cybersecurity offensive or fall behind in the cybersecurity arms race, according to Air Marshal Phil Osborn. Spearking in a lecture to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), Osborn said that the country needs to urgently re-think is approach or risk being cripped by future attacks. 

Source:The Independent 

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