Cloud, mobile deployments weakest links in enterprise networks: Report

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a cyber security solutions firm, in its third installment of the 2019 Security Report highlights how threat actors are increasingly targeting the weakest, least protected points in an organization’s IT infrastructure – their public cloud and mobile deployments.

The third report reveals the key cyber-attack trends used by criminals to target enterprise cloud and mobile estates during 2018. It also reveals enterprise IT and security teams’ key security concerns about these deployments. Highlights of the third installment include:

18% of organizations globally had a cloud security incident in the past year:  the most common incident types were data leaks / breaches, account hijacks, and malware infections.

The top four public cloud security threats:  IT professionals rated misconfiguration of cloud platforms, leading to data loss or breaches as the biggest threat, cited by 62%; followed by unauthorized access to cloud resources (55%); insecure interfaces and APIs (50%); hijacking of accounts or data traffic (47%).

30% of IT professionals still consider security is the responsibility of the cloud service provider:  this worrying finding negates recommendations that cloud security should follow the mutual responsibility model, in which security is shared by both the cloud provider and the customer.

59% of IT professionals do not use mobile threat defenses:  a majority of organizations have not deployed mobile security solutions capable of detecting leading threats including mobile malware, fake or malicious apps, man-in-the-middle attacks and system vulnerabilities.

Only 9% of IT professionals consider threats on mobile a significant security risk:  yet malware can propagate from unprotected mobile devices to organizations’ cloud- or on-premise networks, exploiting this weak link in enterprise security defenses.

“The third installment of our 2019 Security Report shows just how vulnerable organizations are to attacks targeting their cloud and mobile estates, because there is a lack of awareness of the threats they face and how to mitigate them.  As nearly 20% or organizations have experienced a cloud incident in the past year, it’s clear that criminals are looking to exploit these security gaps,” said Zohar Alon, Head of Cloud Product Line, Check Point Software Technologies.  “By reviewing and highlighting these developments in the Report, organizations can get a better understanding of the threats they face, and how they prevent them impacting on their business.”

Check Point’s 2019 Security Report is based on data from Check Point’s ThreatCloud intelligence, the largest collaborative network for fighting cybercrime which delivers threat data and attack trends from a global network of threat sensors; from Check Point’s research investigations over the last 12 months; and on a brand new survey of IT professionals and C-level executives that assesses their preparedness for today’s threats.  The report examines the latest emerging threats against various industry sectors, and gives a comprehensive overview of the trends observed in the malware landscape, in emerging data breach vectors, and in nation-state cyber-attacks.  It also includes expert analysis from Check Point’s thought leaders, to help organizations understand and prepare themselves for today’s and tomorrows complex fifth-generation cyber-attacks and threats.