Three-quarters of IT leaders think organizations are more vulnerable to mobile attacks
A survey of over 600 IT decision makers across the US, UK and Australia finds that 76 percent believe end users are more at risk from attacks on mobile devices than they were a year ago.
The study from Menlo Security also shows 53 percent admit that it's not possible to be prepared for all the tactics and strategies used by attackers targeting mobile devices. And, more than a third (38 percent) claim that it's impossible to keep up with the pace of these attacks.
"Although many organizations are confident in their ability to identify and prevent mobile attacks, oftentimes this is just overconfidence in legacy solutions that are not able to provide 100 percent protection against the latest waves of socially engineered attacks such as phishing and smishing or zero-days," says Mark Guntrip, senior director of cybersecurity strategy for Menlo Security. "Even experienced professionals can fall victim to these attacks and the only way to truly prevent them in the first place is through isolation, which secures work regardless of where it happens."
Although mobile devices often make it difficult to identify the tell-tale signs of malicious emails or links, such as URL addresses, 88 percent still believe in their ability to identify them and 84 percent trust in their ability to prevent them. Phishing attacks have been experienced first hand by 71 percent of respondents.
"Threat actors are always looking for the path of least resistance and given the large number of organizations and employees who are still working remotely, mobile devices have entered into the center of attackers' crosshairs," adds Guntrip. "Unfortunately, mobile security has often been an afterthought for enterprise security strategies. Today's businesses must rethink how they're safeguarding their networks and what avenues are most susceptible to threats in the remote work landscape."
The full report is available from the Menlo site.
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