IBM outlines major cyber threat trends in 2015

According to the report, the four major trends are:

Amateur Hackers Expose Sophisticated Criminals in “Onion Layered” Attacks
While 80% of cyberattacks are driven by highly organized and sophisticated online crime rings, it is often inexperienced hackers — aka “script kiddies” who unknowingly alert companies to these larger, sophisticated hackers lurking on a network or inside an organization. These amateur hackers leave clues like unusual folders or files in a temporary directory, deface corporate web materials, and more. When organizations look into these mischievous attacks, they often find much more complex attacks.

Rise of Ransomware
2015 was the year of ransomware, ranking as the most commonly encountered infection. In fact, the FBI reported Cryptowall ransomware attacks have netted hackers more than US$18 million from 2014-2015. IBM researchers believe that it will remain a common threat and profitable business into 2016, migrating to mobile devices as well.

Biggest Threat May Be Inside
The report also noted the ongoing danger of malicious attacks from inside a company. This is a continuation of a trend seen in 2014 when IBM’s 2015 Cyber Security Intelligence Index revealed that 55% of all attacks in 2014 were carried out by “insiders” or individuals who had insider access to an organizations system – knowingly or by accident.

The C-Suite Cares
In 2015, cybersecurity became a true concern at the boardroom level with more positions of power asking questions about their organizations’ security posture. In fact, a recent survey of CISOs by SMU and IBM, revealed that 85% of CISOs said upper-level management support has been increasing, and 88% said their security budgets have increased.