Cyber crime: the threat situation remains serious

New threats have emerged on Swisscom's Cyber Security Threat Radar this year, including risks related to concentration data and cloud services. In a multi-cloud solution, a company uses several different cloud services, often from several providers. This offers more flexibility, but at the same time leads to more interfaces and a greater area of attack. The threat radar also views the skills shortage in the security job market as a growing risk. The shortage of skilled workers is exacerbating current challenges in IT security. For companies, this means that they have to invest in internal specialist training and promote talent to guarantee their attractiveness as an employer. Competition is fierce and the market is highly competitive.

The danger posed by ransomware continues to be a hot topic. While cybercriminals previously set their sights on large corporations and operators of critical infrastructures like energy suppliers and hospitals, they are now increasingly attacking SMEs and municipalities. These often prove easy targets for the attackers: they come across unpatched systems, VPN access without multi-factor authentication or an IT infrastructure that is not primed to prevent the installation of malware. The risk of falling victim to a ransomware attack therefore remains high. The report explains the measures companies can take against these and other challenges.