The numbers are in, and they’re pretty grim. Trustware has released their annual Global Security Report, which outlines the current trends in cybercrime. Chief among the findings in the report is that fully 60% of the hacking attacks the company investigated in 2015 were driven by the desire to acquire credit card information. As you might suspect then, the primary targets for the hacking community were centered in retail, hospitality and food & beverage, although hackers don’t discriminate. Regardless of your industry, if you collect payment information from your customers, you’re in the at-risk group, because you have what most interests hackers.

Another important trend that the report identifies is the fact that while hackers have long been seen as “lone-gunmen” types, they are increasingly organizing to share information and deliver more potent and effective attacks, more quickly than ever. They’re also taking on traits normally associated with legitimate businesses. For example, if one of your computers is impacted by ransomware, you’re actually given a helpdesk number to call so you can get your files unlocked.

All this to say that the hacking community is evolving at a frightening pace. Every time IT security professionals identify and protect against one threat, attackers are quick out the gates with something new and unexpected. In fact, last year saw a marked increase in the number of instances where an attack specifically targeted a zero-day and one-day exploits (one day exploits are vulnerabilities for which patches have been released, but have not yet been widely distributed).

There is some good news, however. It has been pointed out that a hefty percentage of these attacks can be prevented, simply by having a sound update policy in place at your company. Of course, depending on how many PCs are tied to your company’s network, “simple” might not be the correct term.

If you’re struggling to keep pace with changes in the industry, and are worried about the state of your company’s data security, contact us today. A member of our team can help evaluate your security weaknesses and help make your system more secure.