Swisscom info and facts
Berne, 22 May 2018
In an increasingly digital world, technological innovations offer not only opportunities but also new vulnerabilities. For that reason companies are required to detect any threats from the net in good time, to analyse them and if necessary to repel them. Swisscom continuously monitors the Swiss security situation on the Internet and publishes the key trends annually in its Security Report. “Cyber threats are becoming ever more complex and the areas to watch are also increasing in number and variety,” says Panos Zarkadakis, Deputy Chief Security Officer and co-author of the study. “So it is all the more important to respond quickly to an attack.”
Artificial Intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in the security environment. On the one hand as a result of its misuse, in order to be able to carry out attacks more efficiently. On the other hand, smart systems offer great potential for cyber security, in order to be able to identify and repel attacks more quickly and precisely.
Analysis by Phisherman – an application that detects and exposes phishing sites – makes it quite clear that phishing attacks are being carried out in a more targeted, local and intelligent manner than previously. Whereas just two years ago the focus for phishing attacks was primarily on companies from the USA, Swiss financial institutions are now increasingly often the targets.
The distribution of malware has been and remains the tool most frequently used by attackers to compromise services. Attackers use malware to achieve maximum financial yield with minimum effort and risk. This is made clear by a current trend: Malware is increasingly being employed to misuse third-party computers for the purpose of mining cryptocurrencies.