Dell released a report which reinforced what we all know that cybercrimes “are alive and well on the global stage and will continue to be pervasive as long as organizations delay taking the necessary defense measures to stop threats from slipping through the cracks.” The 2015 Dell Security Annual Threat Report was released on April 13, 2015 and included these 8 threats based on 2014 cybercrime and take notice of numbers 5, 7, and 8:
- A surge took place in POS (Point of Sale) malware variants and attacks targeting payment card infrastructures.
- More companies were exposed to attackers hiding in plain sight as a result of SSL/TLS encrypted traffic.
- Attacks doubled on SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems.
- More organizations will enforce security policies that include two-factor authentication (2FA).
- Sophisticated, new techniques will thwart Android malware researchers and users, and more highly targeted smartphone malware will emerge. In connection, the first wave of malware targeting wearable devices via smartphones will emerge.
- Digital currencies including Bitcoin will continue to be targets of mining attacks.
- Home routers and home network utilities will become targets and will be used to assist large distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
- Electric vehicles and their operating systems are targeted.
It’s never too soon to take responsibility for self-protection from cybercrime, and this Dell Report should be a wake-up call.