Network malware detection and purpose-built solutions are absolutely essential for enterprise cybersecurity as endpoint antivirus solutions are failing to catch a surprising amount of malware, according to a newly published Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) from NTT Innovation Institute (NTT I³).
Some key findings in the 2014 GTIR include:
- Cost for a “minor” SQL injection attack exceeds $196,000 – Organizations must realize the true cost of an incident and learn how a small investment could reduce losses by almost 95 percent. Case Study: “Massive Data Exfiltration via SQL Injection”
- Anti-virus fails to detect 54 percent of new malware collected by honeypots – Additionally, 71 percent of new malware collected from sandboxes was also undetected by 11 different anti-virus solutions. This supports the premise that simple endpoint solutions must be augmented with network malware detection and purpose-built solutions.
- 43 percent of incident response engagements were the result of malware – Missing anti-virus, anti-malware and effective lifecycle management of these basic controls were key factors in a significant portion of these engagements. Read the “Administrator Releases a Worm” case study to see how it cost one organization $109,000.
- Botnet activity takes an overwhelming lead at 34 percent of events observed – Almost 50 percent of botnet activity detected in 2013 originated from U.S. based addresses. The fact that healthcare, technology and finance account for 60 percent of observed botnet activity reflects the information worker burden that accompanies these industries.
- PCI assessed organizations are better at addressing perimeter vulnerabilities – Organizations performing quarterly external PCI Authorized Scanning Vendor (ASV) assessments have a more secure vulnerability profile, as well as a faster remediation time (27 percent), than organizations performing unregulated assessments
- Healthcare has observed a 13 percent increase in botnet activity – Due to increased reliance on interconnected systems for the exchange and monitoring of health related data, more systems are potentially affected by malware.
The GTIR was developed using threat intelligence and attack data from the NTT Group companies – Dimension Data, NTT Com Security, NTT Data, Solutionary and NTT R&D. The key findings in the GTIR are a result of the analysis of approximately three billion worldwide attacks over the course of 2013. The data analyzed for this report was collected from sixteen Security Operations Centers (SOC) and seven R&D centers with more than 1,300 NTT security experts and researchers from around the world.
“The report represents the culmination of months of research from our world-renowned experts and it strives to provide C-level executives and IT departments a platform to come together and discuss the foundation of their security programs in a way that benefits enterprises in today’s Digital Economy,” said NTT Innovation Institute, CEO Srini Koushik, “The 2014 NTT Group GTIR describes the evolving global threat landscape and underscores the importance of doing the basics right. It also backs it up with real-world case studies and actionable insights for the security practitioners and succinct enough for the Fortune 100 CEO.”
The full report is posted.