Gemalto and Other Cyber Threats Pose Challenges for Corporate & Government IT Staff

Last year was a big one for high-profile cybercrime, from the Heartbleed bug to major corporate attacks, and Sony's massive hack. Symantec's analysis of security threats in 2014 revealed thieves are working faster than companies can defend themselves, and launching more malicious attacks than in previous years. More than 317 million new pieces of malware - computer viruses or other malicious software -- were created last year. That means nearly one million new threats were released each day. But hackers actually relied on incredibly old computer bugs that companies just haven't gotten around to fixing yet, according to Verizon's 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report. In nearly 90% of cases, hackers relied on computer bugs that have been around since 2002. The third most popular option for hackers is a glitch in the way an IT manager remotely manages corporate PCs -- one that's existed since 1999. Companies could and should be patching this stuff, but they don't.

"While it seems like a no brainer for fix some of these things, organizations care more about making widgets," said Verizon security data scientist Bob Rudis. "They just don't have the manpower or time." Directed attacks and data breaches also grew, according to Symantec. Five out of six large companies were targeted by cybercriminals, a 40% rise on the previous year. The mining industry was the world's most targeted sector. Samir Kapuria, a Symantec executive, recalled one case in which hackers snuck into an energy company's computer network and stole a draft report. The report detailed the secret discovery of a potentially lucrative energy drilling spot. What is the threat landscape for Q4 2015? Share your comments with the Cyber and Cloud Security Center.