New Report Highlights Most Significant IT Security Risks Facing Enterprises
Qualys Inc., provider of on demand IT security risk and compliance management solutions, recently announced the release of the “Top Cyber Security Risks Report.” This second annual report features new data from HP TippingPoint DVLabs, SANS Institute and Qualys Research Labs, helping companies understand the latest security threats and implement security policies and technologies to protect company data.
“When leading companies in two critical areas of security agree to share their data with the community, they can make a big difference,” said Alan Paller, director of research, SANS Institute. “Qualys' data on patching status for vulnerabilities from more than 13 million scans each week and HP TippingPoint DVLab’s attack information combine to give a valuable and unparalleled look at the conditions facing security managers.”
2010 has brought the use of the Internet for conducting business to an all-time high; however, attacks continue to strike networks more than ever by using sophisticated techniques. The “Top Cyber Security Risks Report” provides data and analysis -- including real-world examples of attacks and recommended ways to mitigate risk -- to fully inform companies about the latest security threats. It includes updated vulnerability trends, an in-depth analysis of a PDF-based exploit, discussion of client versus server side attacks, and information on growing tendencies, including botnets and malicious JavaScript.
The report addresses how these latest trends change the security landscape as the research demonstrates:
- Increased Consumerization of Enterprise Computing. Some of the most serious security issues this year have stemmed from increased use of consumer technologies in the enterprise, including downloads of applications and use of social media tools on company computers, opening the door for security risks and attacks through web vectors.
- Prolonged and Persistent Targeting of Web Applications. Web applications continue to pose one of the biggest risks to company networks, often due to vulnerabilities in integration points between products.
- Increased Organization and Sophistication of Attackers. Attack sophistication has increased across all attack types, from client-side attacks such as malicious JavaScript, to server-side attacks like PHP file attacks. Attackers have become more organized and increasingly subversive and inconspicuous in the way they execute their attacks.
- The Unrelenting Presence of Legacy Threats. Over the sample period of this report, the number of attacks from well-known malware threats continued to plague computer systems, emphasizing the importance of continued protection against already-known threats.
“We collaborated with HP and SANS to create this report, which includes in-depth information on the latest vulnerabilities and threats, to help organizations implement the processes and solutions to best secure their systems and applications and embrace a proactive approach for security,” said Wolfgang Kandek, CTO, Qualys.
The full report is available at http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/toprisks2010.