Cybercrime: These are the sources of danger
Swisscom's latest Cyber Security Threat Radar shows how cybercriminals have adapted their attack methods as a result of the pandemic, with attacks on the home office and the use of the latest AI technology.
The tide of cyber threats remains high. Large companies and SMEs are still targeted by hackers. The pandemic-related move of many employees to home offices provided cybercriminals with a welcome larger attack surface. Accordingly, they adapted their attack methods to the new circumstances.
Cybercrime: High number of attacks
The latest Cyber Security Threat Radar shows: The number of attacks remains at a constantly high level. While individual ─ rather classic ─ attack methods are on the decline, intelligent and often AI-driven approaches are increasingly being used. This places additional demands on companies and organizations to maintain an overview - the attackers' methods are constantly evolving.
New requirements, new attack methods
Workplace heterogeneity, for example, is now one of the biggest challenges in IT security. The immediate deployment to the home office has been one of the biggest challenges that IT and security departments have had to overcome in the recent past. Home office as well as mobile and agile working models, such as "bring your own device", offer great opportunities ─ but they also open up new attack surfaces. And attackers are skillfully exploiting this development to their advantage.
AI-based attacks on the rise
Attacks using artificial intelligence, so-called AI-based attacks, are also increasingly coming to the fore and are classified as a growing threat in the Cyber Security Threat Radar. They are used, for example, for targeted disinformation, as is known from deepfakes. The Tiktok channel "Deeptomcruise" recently caused a sensation. On videos, Tom Cruise showed magic tricks and played golf. But the real magic trick was the video itself: Because for once the Hollywood star didn't stand in front of the camera for it, he didn't even know about it. It is an almost perfect fake created thanks to artificial intelligence. It enables cybercriminals to automatically create an artificial profile from a wide variety of information that is very difficult to recognize as a fake. The report explains what countermeasures companies can take against these and other challenges.
Compass in the cyber world
Swisscom's specialists have used the Cyber Security Threat Radar to determine the current threat situation in Switzerland. The report explains the motivation of cyber criminals and reveals their modus operandi. It looks at and observes trends and challenges, evaluates them and provides an overview of the threat situation and its development in Switzerland by pooling expert knowledge.It also shows which countermeasures are particularly effective in detecting attacks in the best possible way and at an early stage.
Source: Cyber Security Threat Radad 2020/21 by Swisscom
