A study commissioned by security technology firm McAfee, indicates that even as organisations try to counter the growing threat from advanced evasion techniques (AETs), worldwide data breaches have cost companies over $1 million on an average in the last 12 months.
The study conducted by technology market research firm Vanson Bourne, examines the impact of AETs on the security of networks and the role they play in the proliferation of advanced persistent threats (APTs).
AET is a network attack that combines different known evasion methods to create a new technique that is delivered over several layers of the network simultaneously and provides the attacker with undetectable access to the network.
The study covered 800 chief information officers and security managers across countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, Brazil and South Africa. About 22 per cent of the respondents stated that their network security was compromised due to inadequate security measures. About 40 per cent of those surveyed reported that their network was impacted by AETs. Further, about two-thirds of the respondents stated that the biggest challenge, while implementing technology against AETs, is convincing management about the real threat posed by such security breaches.
The report indicates that of the estimated 800 million known AETs, less than one per cent are detected by other vendor?s? firewalls. Moreover, the prevalence of such security threats has increased significantly since 2010, with millions of combinations and modifications of network-based AETs having been identified.
