Public sector still prime target for cyber criminals, says Symantec

By eGov Innovation Editors | Dec 14, 2011

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While global spam volumes have dropped to a record three-year low, according to the November 2011 Symantec Intelligence Report, the number of targeted online attacks each day has increased by a shocking 400 percent compared to the levels seen in January this year.

Perhaps even more alarming is evidence suggesting that online scammers are capitalizing on a lack of direction among different government agencies and making public sector organizations their prime targets.

"The aim of these targeted attacks is to establish persistent access to the targeted organization's network, in many cases with the aim of providing remote access to confidential data. They have the potential to cause serious damage to an organization and in the long term, they represent a significant threat to the economic prosperity of many countries," said Lawrence Li, Systems Engineering Manager, Symantec.

The report revealed that the public sector was the most targeted industry, followed by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Manufacturing was the third most targeted industry. Large enterprises with more than 2,500 employees received the greatest number of attacks - more than three times as many as small-to-medium sized businesses with less than 250 employees. 

Symantec warned that targeted attacks may not be the most worrying aspect of the new report.

"It is important to remember that without strong social engineering, or 'head-hacking,' even the most technically sophisticated attacks are unlikely to succeed. Many attacks include elements of social engineering and are based on information we make available ourselves through social networking and social media sites. Once the attackers are able to understand our interests or hobbies, with whom we socialize and who else may be in our networks; they are often able to construct more believable and convincing attacks against us," said Harry Pun, Client Services Manager, North Asia for Symantec.cloud.

Global spam volumes in November fell to 70.5 percent compared to 74.2 percent the previous month. Hong Kong received slightly less spam in November, with levels touching 69.2 percent compared to 73.4 percent in October.