Cybercriminals target the retail sector
Organisations in the retail sector experienced almost three times as many attacks as those in the financial sector
New research published in the NTT 2016 Global Threat Intelligence Report reveals that cybercriminals have shifted their focus from traditional financial markets, to targeting the retail sector. Retail organisations experienced nearly three times as many cyberattacks as those in the finance sector which was top of the list of cyberattacks on organisations in the 2015 report. Cyberattacks on financial industry dropped significantly to fourteenth position.
NTT’s annual Global Threat Intelligence Report contains security threats gathered during 2015 from 8,000 clients of NTT Group security companies including Dimension Data, Solutionary, NTT Com Security, NTT R&D, and NTT Innovation Institute (NTTi3). This year’s data is based on 3.5 trillion security logs and 6.2 billion attacks. Data is also gathered from 24 Security Operations Centres and seven research and development centres of the NTT Group.
The retail sector topped the list of all cybersecurity attacks on all sectors at just under 11% in this year’s report, knocking the finance sector out of first place.
Matthew Gyde, Dimension Data’s Group Executive – Security, explains: “The retail and financial sectors process large volumes of personal information and credit card data. Gaining access to these organisations enables cybercriminals to monetise sensitive data such as credit card details in the black market, which validates that cybercriminals are motivated by the rewards of financial crime.”
Rory Duncan, Head of Security Business Unit at Dimension Data UK, said “Retail companies are becoming increasingly popular targets as most process large volumes of personal information, including credit card data, in highly distributed environments with many endpoints and point-of-service devices. Such diverse environments can be difficult to protect.”
Visit www.dimensiondata.com/globalthreatreport to download the Executive Guide to the 2016 NTT Global Threat Intelligence Report.
channels: IT security, internet security
