Organised cybercrime is high on UK organisations’ fear list, with 45 per cent of respondents to an IronKey survey believing that their organisation is a target of organised cybercrime which could result in the theft of data or money, or of sabotage.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents, IT security professionals working at UK-based
organisations including Lloyds Banking Group and Fujitsu, have suffered at least one cyber attack in the last 12 months – a figure that has not been a surprise, said Dave Jevans, founder and chairman.

“However, the numbers of those who know they’ve been attacked and those fearful are dangerously similar. For many, not knowing will lead of painful realities,” he said.

When questioned about the information security threat facing their organisation today, 54 per cent highlighted accidental data leakage by staff, contractors or vendors as the biggest threat.

And when it comes to who should take the blame, respondents were split between CIO/head of IT at 26.1 per cent; CISO/head of IT Security at 27 per cent; and CEO/MD at 27 per cent.

Forty-four per cent said an untrusted desktop or laptop is the most vulnerable location for an advance persistent threat (APT) attack, yet it appears respondents prefer more traditional methods as tools to prevent APT attacks, including end-user education or anti-virus.

“Unfortunately, end-user education and anti-virus were all in place at organisations that suffered painful losses as a result of APT attacks. Doing the same thing over and over won’t make the problem go away – criminals are only more encouraged,” Jevans said.

“As an industry, we need to shift away from trying to be all knowing and detecting threats we can’t know about until they happen. Instead, we need to isolate users of sensitive data and transactions away from the problem.”

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