Global Security Threats & Trends: Cisco 2009 Annual Security Report

Cisco Security Intelligence Operations announces the Cisco 2009 Annual Security Report. The updated report includes information about 2009 global threats and trends, as well as security recommendations for 2010.

Managing and securing today's distributed and agile network is increasingly challenging, with cloud computing and sharing of data threatening security norms. Online criminals are continuing to exploit users trust in consumer applications and devices, increasing the risk to organizations and employees.

Report Highlights

• Online criminals have taken advantage of the large social media following, exploiting users' willingness to respond to messages that are supposedly from people they know and trust.
  
  
• Politically-motivated threats are increasing, while governments are teaming up and promoting online security.
  
  
• Up to 90 percent of spam is untargeted. That includes spam delivered by botnets that floods inboxes with messages from supposed banks, educational institutions, and service providers.
  
  
• More than 80 percent of the web can be classified as "uncategorized" or "unknown", making it challenging for traditional URL filtering technology. The new Cisco Cybercrime Return on Investment Matrix tracks the performance of the underground online criminal marketplace, helping organizations understand the latest targets.