CyberArk - CYBER ATTACKERS THE PRIVILEGE

Cyber-Ark® Software, a leading global information security provider for protecting and managing privileged accounts and sessions, critical applications and sensitive information, today released “Don’t Give Cyber Attackers the Privilege,” a free eBook and accompanying infographic to provide IT security professionals with new perspectives on recent cyber attacks and an examination of their common access point-the exploitation of unprotected privileged accounts. The resources offer a timeline of high-profile breaches and actionable advice for effectively managing, securing and mitigating the threats associated with privileged accounts.

Cyber-Ark’s eBook and infographic are based on research conducted over the past 18 months related to the significant rise in the number of targeted cyber attacks. As detailed in the reports, according to the Ponemon Institute, in 2011 there were a record number of attacks on corporations, which cost them 56 percent more than they did in 2010. In the majority of these cases, Cyber-Ark’s research determined that attackers were able to bypass perimeter security controls to gain access to target systems through the exploitation of privileged accounts – those accounts that have broad and often anonymous access to high-value systems, networks and databases.

In an undisputable and alarming pattern, privileged accounts continue to emerge as a primary target for hackers, allowing them to gain system-wide access to an organization through rather simple means-an easy-to-crack password, spear-phishing or exploitable zero-day vulnerability. Once inside, attackers typically leverage the privileged account to manipulate additional servers, databases and other sensitive systems that only a select few people are actually granted permission to access. As detailed in the infographic, targets of these types of cyber attacks have included RSA, SCADA-based systems that are utilized throughout the utility and energy fields, and many others. In the most recent example, a Global Payments breach exposed financial data belonging to 1.5 million users of Visa and Mastercard.