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Global Threat Intelligence Report

UK’s manufacturing sector facing COVID-19 cyber threats

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Manufacturing is now the most attacked sector representing almost a third of all cyber attacks in the UK & Ireland, while Technology was the most attacked sector globally.

That’s according to the 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) from NTT, which says that despite efforts to layer up defences, many organisations are unable to stay ahead of attackers, while others are struggling to do the basics like patching old vulnerabilities. 

NTT asserts that manufacturing increasingly faces financially motivated data breaches, global supply chain risks and risks from unpatched vulnerabilities. The UK was the only country (apart from Hong Kong) this year where Manufacturing topped the list of most attacked sectors, representing 29% of all attacks, with Technology (19%) second and Business and Professional Services (17%) third. Government and Finance made up the other two sectors in the top five. 

Reconnaissance attacks accounted for half of all hostile activity in the UK and Ireland, with web application the next most common form of attack (22%). Reconnaissance activity (60%) was also the most common attack type against manufacturers followed by web application attacks (36%).

Rory Duncan, Security Go-to-Market Leader, NTT, said: “UK manufacturing has become a major target for attackers in recent years as a result of the increased risks brought about from the convergence of IT and Operational Technology (OT). The biggest worry is that security has lagged behind in this sector, potentially exposing systems and processes to attack. Poor OT security is a legacy issue; many systems were designed with efficiency, throughput and regulatory compliance in mind rather than security. In the past, OT also relied on a form of ‘security through obscurity’. The protocols, formats and interfaces in these systems were often complex and proprietary and different from those in IT systems, so it was difficult for attackers to mount a successful attack. As more and more systems come online, hackers are innovating and see these systems as ripe for attack.

“Now more than ever, it’s critical for all organisations, regardless of sector or region, to pay attention to the security that enables their business; making sure they are cyber-resilient and secure-by-design, which means embedding privacy and security into the fabric of their enterprise architecture and organisational culture. The current global pandemic and the flow of trusted and untrusted information used to mask the activities of cyber criminals has shown us that they will take advantage of any situation. Organisations must be ready to respond to these and other threats in a constantly evolving landscape.”

The 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report calls last year the ‘year of enforcement’ with the number of Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) initiatives growing, creating a challenging global regulatory landscape. Several acts and laws now influence how organisations handle data and privacy, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has set a high standard for the rest of the world. The report provides organisations with recommendations to help navigate compliance complexity, including identifying acceptable risk levels, building cyber-resilience capabilities and implementing solutions that are secure-by-design.

The 2020 GTIR – the eigth annual report – analyses and summarises trends based on log, event, attack, incident and vulnerability data from trillions of logs and billions of attacks. To learn more about how this year’s GTIR offers organisations a robust framework to address today’s cyber threat landscape, and to learn more about the emerging trends across different industries and regions, including the Americas, APAC and EMEA, follow the link to download the NTT Ltd. 2020 GTIR. 

Global Highlights: 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report:

  • Most common attack types accounted for 88% of attacks: Application-specific (33%), web application (22%), reconnaissance (14%), DoS/DDoS (14%) and network manipulation (5%) attacks.
  • Weaponisation of IoT: Botnets like Mirai, IoTroop and Echobot have advanced in automation, improving propagation capabilities. Mirai and IoTroop are also known for spreading through IoT attacks, then propagating through scanning and subsequent infection from identified hosts.
  • Old vulnerabilities remain an active target: Attackers leveraged those that are several years old, but have not been patched by organisations, such as HeartBleed, which helped make OpenSSL the second most targeted software with 19% of attacks globally. A total of 258 new vulnerabilities were identified in Apache frameworks and software over the past two years, making Apache the third most targeted in 2019, accounting for over 15% of all attacks observed.
  • Attacks on Content Management Systems (CMS) accounted for about 20% of all attacks: Targeting popular CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, and noneCMS, cyber criminals used them as a route into businesses to steal valuable data and launch additional attacks. Additionally, more than 28% targeted technologies (like ColdFusion and Apache Struts) support websites.

Third of C-Suite execs would pay hacker’s ransom demands rather than invest in more security

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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One third of global business decision makers report that their organisation would try to cut costs by considering paying a ransom demand from a hacker rather than invest in information security.

In the UK, this figure drops to a fifth (21 per cent) of respondents. The findings from the 2018 Risk:Value Report, commissioned by security specialist NTT, show that another 30 per cent in the UK are not sure if they would pay or not, suggesting that only around half are prepared to invest in security to proactively protect the business.

Examining business attitudes to risk and the value of information security, NTT Security’s annual Risk:Value Report surveys C-level executives and other decision makers from non-IT functions in 12 countries across Europe, the US and APAC and from multiple industry sectors.

The findings are particularly concerning, given the growth in ransomware, as identified in NTT Security’s Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) published in April. According to the GTIR, ransomware attacks surged by 350 per cent in 2017, accounting for 29 per cent of all attacks in EMEA and seven per cent of malware attacks worldwide.

Levels of confidence about being vulnerable to attack also seem unrealistic, according to the report. 41 per cent of respondents in the UK claim that their organisation has not been affected by a data breach, compared to 47 per cent globally. More realistically, of those in the UK, 10 per cent expect to suffer a breach, but nearly a third (31 per cent) do not expect to suffer a breach at all. More worrying is the 22 per cent of UK respondents who are not sure if they have suffered a breach or not.

Given that just four per cent of respondents in the UK see poor information security as the single greatest risk to the business, this is unsurprising. Notably, 14 per cent regard Brexit as the single greatest business risk, although competitors taking market share (24 per cent) and budget cuts (18 per cent) top the table.

When considering the impact of a breach, UK respondents are most concerned about what a data breach will do to their image, with almost three-quarters (73 per cent) concerned about loss of customer confidence and damage to reputation (69 per cent). This is the highest figures for any country.

The estimated loss in terms of revenue is 9.72 per cent (compared to 10.29 per cent globally, up from 2017’s 9.95 per cent). Executives in Europe are more optimistic, expecting lower revenue losses than those in the US or APAC.

The estimated cost of recovery globally, on average, has increased to USD1.52m, up from USD1.35m in 2017, although UK estimates are lower at USD1.33m this year. Globally, respondents anticipate it would take 57 days to recover from a breach, down from 74 days in 2017. However, in the UK, decision makers are more optimistic believing it would take just 47 days to recover, one of the lowest estimates for any country.

Kai Grunwitz, Senior VP EMEA, NTT Security, said: “We’re seeing almost unprecedented levels of confidence among our respondents to this year’s report, with almost half claiming they have never experienced a data breach. Some might call it naivety and perhaps suggests that many decision makers within organisations are simply not close enough to the action and are looking at one of the most serious issues within business today with an idealistic rather than realistic view.

“This is reinforced by that worrying statistic that more than a third globally would rather pay a ransom demand than invest in their cybersecurity, especially given the big hike in ransomware detections and headline-grabbing incidents like WannaCry. While it’s encouraging that many organisations are prepared to take a long-term, proactive stance, there are still signs that many are still prepared to take a short-term, reactive approach to security in order to drive down costs.”

According to Risk:Value, there is no clear consensus on who is responsible for day to day security, with 19 per cent of UK respondents saying the CIO is responsible, compared to 21 per cent for the CEO, 18 per cent for the CISO and 17 per cent for the IT director. Global figures are very similar.

One area of concern, however, is whether there are regular boardroom discussions about security, with 84 per cent of UK respondents agreeing that preventing a security attack should be a regular item on the Board’s agenda. Yet only around half (53 per cent) admit it is and a quarter don’t know.

UK respondents estimate that the operations department spent noticeably more of its budget on security (17.02 per cent) than the IT department did (12.94 per cent). This compares to the global figures of 17.84 per cent (operations) and 14.32 per cent (IT), on average.

Each year the NTT Security Risk:Value report shows that companies are still failing when it comes to communicating information security policies. An impressive 77 per cent in the UK (compared to 57 per cent globally) claim to have a policy in place, while 10 per cent (26 per cent globally) are working on one. While 85 per cent of UK respondents with a policy in place say this is actively communicated internally, less than a third (30 per cent) admit that employees are fully aware of it.

In terms of incident response planning, the UK is the most well prepared with 63 per cent of respondents saying their organisation has already implemented a response plan, well above the global figure of 49 per cent, while 18 per cent are in the process. Just 1 per cent in the UK say they have no plans to implement an incident response plan.

“The UK is leading the pack when it comes to planning for a security breach or for non-compliance of information/data security regulations,” added Kai Grunwitz. “Given that the GDPR has just come into force, this is encouraging. However, while the majority claim their information security and response plans are well communicated internally, it seems it’s only a minority who are ‘fully aware’ of them. This continues to be an area that businesses are failing on time and time again and needs to be addressed as a priority.”

For further information on NTT Security’s 2018 Risk:Value report and to download a copy, visit: https://www.nttsecurity.com/en-uk/risk-value-2018