Sophos Cyber Threat Report: Sophos 2019 Threat Report & Cybersecurity Trends

Find out the biggest takeaways from the SophosLabs 2019 Threat Report and what steps solution providers should take to protect themselves.

Targeted cyberattacks are becoming increasingly popular with cybercriminals. Previously, they relied on less lucrative, automated spray-and-pray attacks to evade internal security measures. But today, cybercriminals are turning to targeted ransomware attacks, according to the SophosLabs 2019 Threat Report.

“The reason that these types of attacks are so effective is because there is actually a human behind these attacks as opposed to an automated system or a bot,” says John Shier, senior security advisory at Sophos.

Unlike automated systems or bots, humans can circumvent any roadblocks in their way. Then, they can either turn off security technologies already put in place or use the system admin tools to invade a customer’s environment. “These tools are on the systems for a reason,” says Shier. “They are useful and powerful and making the cybercriminal’s job a lot easier when they’re rummaging around a system.”

And, due to the increased adoption of mobile platforms and proliferation of IoT devices, Sophos’ 2019 Threat Report also found that the malware attack footprint has grown exponentially. “Cyber attackers do what they do. They go where the opportunity is. More devices mean more opportunity,” says Shier.

The key to arming customers is providing next-generation layered security. Solution providers have more opportunities to detect problems and respond faster when there are multiple points of protection along the attack chain.

“We continue to build tremendous exploit protection capabilities into Sophos Intercept X Advanced,” says Dan Schiappa, chief product officer at Sophos. “But synchronized security is where this really lights up, when I can combine the endpoint and the XG Firewall 17.5 together. Now, I can identify some of these more sophisticated hands-on types of attacks.”

Sophos makes it easy for solution providers to take an active, layered and predictive approach to their clients’ security. Partners can be diligent and proactive by deploying in-depth defenses that expect attacks and communicate with each other to stop threats.

Learn More: Current Threats| Data Protection Technologies| Network Security| Threat Management

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