Island-Hopping Attacks Are A Rising Threat

More than 90 percent of businesses worldwide reported an increase in cyberattacks  as a result of employees working from home. Most report an increase in COVID-19 related malware. Pandemic aside, 90 percent reported a climb in cyber attacks over the past year, with most noting the increasing level of sophistication in such threats. Vulnerabilities in computing software were the most common cause, but island-hopping (infiltrating large company networks by targeting their clients or partners) was the main cause of breaches in markets such as Italy and Scandinavia, and are rapidly becoming ubiquitous worldwide. According to cybersecurity analyst Rick McElroy “Siloed, hard-to-manage environments hand the advantage to attackers from the start. Evidence shows that attackers have the upper hand when security is not an intrinsic feature of the environment. As the cyber threat landscape reaches saturation, it is time for strategic thinking and clarity over security deployment.”