70 per cent of Internet users in European Union claim that they can do shopping on-line or use electronic banking. However, in practice only half of them really does it. 37% of respondents taking part in the Eurobarometr’s survey is afraid of using their personal data, while 35% is not certain about the security of on-line payments. The reason is the fear of cybercrime, which can concern both individual users and companies.
Although experts admit that these fears are not groundless, they also emphasise that cyberattacks are threats primarily to companies. This is connected with, for instance, inner threats, which are related to social networks or data storage. Dangers connected with mobile devices are also important - in 2012, the amount of malicious software found on these devices increased by about 60 per cent.
According to us, in 2014, the greatest threat will be connected with the so-called targeted attacks for which there is yet no cure. The number of new computer viruses created in the world every week is estimated at 100 000. Many of them are based on security signatures unknown to us, which means that we do not know how to protect us from them, says Krzysztof Wójtowicz, managing director of Check Point.
Another threat are attacks which are directly targeted at the infrastructure of a specific company or institution. These are attacks of enemies motivated by the desire to harm us or simply to extract money. Such attacks on servers or websites will also be a serious threat this year, explains Krzysztof Wójtowicz.
From 2012 to 2013, the losses suffered by companies around the world as a result of cybercrime increased by 50 per cent, according to the report 2013 Cost of Cyber Crime Study. In 2012 companies lost 591 000 dollars, and in 2013 - over million dollars. The companies which face the greatest threats are in the finance service and power industry sector, as well as public utility enterprises.
The most losses caused by cyberattacks are in companies from Asia, the Pacific and North America, according to the report Global Security IT Risks 2013 (Kaspersky Lab). Smaller losses were recorded by European, South-American and Russian companies. In Poland, entrepreneurs lost over 100 million zloty because of this. In Poland, these numbers are much lower, but many Polish companies may lose their brand reputations if they do not invest in the protection of their infrastructure, emphasises Krzysztof Wójtowicz.
The threat of cyberattacks is growing also because of the increasing use of cloud computing, because of which control over one’s own data is lost. On the other hand, well-used cloud computing gives a big chance to effectively combat cybercrime. It may be so, if we allow various entities to cooperate in order to fight against IT threats. By this I mean the cloud by the producers of customer security system, who detect these threats in their infrastructure during their work, notices Krzysztof Wójtowicz.