Global Survey Finds 80 Percent Believe Cyber-Attacks Pose a Greater National Threat than Physical Attacks

CyberArk’s 7th Annual Advanced Threat Survey Finds More than Half of All Businesses Believe Hackers are Already Inside Their Networks; 57 Percent Put ‘Too Much Faith in Perimeter Security’

NEWTON, Mass. – June 25, 2013 – Eighty percent of C-level executives and IT security professionals believe that cyber-attacks pose a greater risk to their nation than physical attacks, while 51 percent believe a cyber-attacker is currently in their corporate network, or has been in the past year. The findings are part of CyberArk’s 7th annual Global Advanced Threat Landscape survey – developed through interviews with 989 IT and C-level executives across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The full survey can be downloaded for free here.

Analysis of this year’s survey shows that continued reports of nation-based attacks on global critical infrastructure and businesses, combined with high-profile data breaches such as the NSA leak, have made the industry acutely aware of the threat that today’s cyber-attackers pose. Despite this awareness, businesses still have a lot of work to do to secure the enterprise from advanced attacks. Cyber-attackers are continuing to breach perimeter security at an accelerated rate. As a result, businesses need to assume the attackers are already inside their network and focus on securing the access points to the critical data and assets that the attackers covet.

Key findings of the 2013 survey include:

• Advanced Attacks Represent Grave Threats to National Security, Business and the Economy
  • 80 percent of respondents believe that cyber-attacks pose a greater threat to their nation than physical attacks.
    • In last year’s survey, 71 percent of respondents indicated they were more fearful of insider attacks than outside cyber-attacks, but almost two thirds of respondents indicated that external cyber-attack threats would become a greater security risk in 1 to 3 years1. This year’s survey validates that notion.
  • 61 percent of respondents believe that government and legislative action can help protect critical infrastructure against advanced threats. This number was the lowest in the U.S., where only 57 percent believe legislation will be an effective tool, as opposed to 64 percent of respondents in Europe and 61 percent in APAC.
• The Perceived Failure of Perimeter Security – Attackers Already Inside
  • Advanced attacks are almost always precipitated by perimeter-oriented tactical aggressions, such as phishing attempts. The increasing ease with which attackers are breaching the enterprise perimeter is eroding confidence in perimeter security.
  • 57 percent of respondents believe their company puts too much faith in perimeter security.
  • 51 percent of respondents believe a cyber-attacker is currently on their network – or has been in the past year.
• Privileged Accounts as an Advanced Threat Vulnerability
  • It’s been firmly established through multiple industry reports that privileged accounts have emerged as the primary target for advanced enterprise attacks234
  • 64 percent of respondents indicate they are now managing privileged accounts as an advanced threat security vulnerability.
  • Despite this growing awareness, 39 percent of respondents either don’t know how to identify where privileged accounts exist or are doing so manually.
    • In a recent survey, CyberArk discovered that 86 percent of large enterprises either don’t know or had grossly underestimated the magnitude of their privileged account security problem5.
• Companies Lose Control of Privileges in the Cloud
  • 56 percent of respondents do not know what their cloud service providers are doing to protect and monitor privileged accounts.
  • 25 percent of respondents felt they were better equipped to protect their confidential information than their cloud provider – and yet they still entrust the third party with their data.

Supporting Quote

“People around the world are acutely aware of the global threat cyber-attacks represent. Cyber-attackers have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to disrupt national financial systems, cause harm to critical infrastructure and severely damage businesses and economies,” said John Worrall, CMO of CyberArk. “To achieve their goals, outside attackers must steal the privileged credentials of an authorized user to gain the access necessary to meet their objectives. This level of threat requires a proactive approach to security that protects and monitors the access points to the critical data and assets that attackers are targeting.”

• 1 CyberArk, “2012 Trust, Security, Passwords survey,” June 2012
• 2 CyberSheath, “APT Privileged Account Exploitation,” April 2013
• 3 Mandiant, “Exposing One of China’s Cyber Espionage Units,” Feb. 2013
• 4 Verizon, “2013 Data Breach Investigations Report,” May 2013
• 5 CyberArk, “Privileged Account Security & Compliance Survey,” May 2013

Full Research Brief: https://www.cyberark.com/landing-pages/global-advanced-threat-survey/index.asp?utm_source=Release&utm_medium=PR&utm_campaign=GATL

Twitter: @CyberArk

Free Privileged Account Security Risk Assessment: https://www.cyberark.com/discover-dna