Despite devastating cyber-attacks being reported daily in today’s media, most IT professionals believe that the true state of affairs is being significantly underreported.
A survey from Lieberman Software found that 87% of respondents think that large financial hacks are happening more often than reported, and right under the nose of security auditors.
The survey also discovered that more than half (51%) of IT professionals believe their corporate network is being targeted continuously by hackers.
Meanwhile, 71% of respondents think that an advanced persistent threat (APT) attack will attempt to breach their organization in the next six months.
“The fact that IT professionals believe that data breaches are occurring more frequently than reported is revealing,” said Philip Lieberman, CEO of Lieberman Software. “Due to today’s advanced cyber-attacks, intruders are already within most IT environments, are undetectable, and have access to credentials on every compromised machine.”
He added, “Of course, it’s unlikely any company will ever willingly go public about a data breach because of the negative impact it can have on the organization’s reputation and share price. However, this certainly does not mean keeping security incidents a secret is the right thing to do, particularly if customer data is involved.”
Another finding from the study is that 89% of respondents believe that recently announced US federal government cybersecurity sanctions provide a deterrent to cyber-criminals. The referenced sanctions allow the United States government to enforce financial and travel restrictions on suspected cyber-criminals.
“The new sanctions are an excellent move to provide clarity and direction on how to take action against nation states and criminals who use cyber-space to achieve unlawful economic advantage against US commercial entities,” continued Lieberman. “I agree with the survey respondents that the changes will provide much needed relief for US companies victimized by state-sponsored cyber-attacks, as well as clarity for US government agencies tasked with enforcing laws and treaties.”