Scope and volume of cyber attacks increasing, says expert panel

Increased reliance on 3rd parties creates further opportunities for hackers

The scope and volume of cyber attacks is on the rise, due in part to enterprise reliance on third-parties.

That's the opinion of a panel of experts speaking at hosting firm Rackspace's annual conference in London, Rackspace Solve.

"The scope and volume of attacks increasing," said Brian Kelly, chief security officer at Rackspace. "[Hacking] tools are are easier to use, and readily available in the underground [dark web], so more participants are finding it easier to get into."

Kelly added however that firms are also becoming more transparent about the attacks they suffer, which gives the appearance that there are more cyber security incidents.

A poll of the audience showed that most were in agreement with Kelly, with 89 per cent believing that cyber attacks are increasing.

Tom Macey, head of security and IT policy at Aldermore Bank, reflected this view.

"Ninety per cent of organisations say they suffer security breaches. The other 10 per cent probabably didn't realise [they were breached], or didn't want to reveal it," said Macey.

Doug Davidson, global head of cloud security offers & UK cyber security CTO at consultancy Capgemini pointed out that security is now a headline concern at board level.

"Attacks are definitely on the rise, but the difference is that security is an issue in the boardroom now." said Davidson. "Companies are now more open about reporting than they were, they're terrified of the regulations."

Ethical hacker Jamie Woodruff pointed to an increased reliance on third parties as a reason for the increase in cyber attacksglobally.

"As more technology comes out, we're ever more reliant on third party vendors. Look at how APIs work, and how feed them into third parties. That's a potential way in to the corporate network," said Woodruff, pointing to the successful attack on US retailer Target in 2013, in which the personal data of 110 million customers was stolen.

The hackers chose one of Target's third party suppliers - a refrigeration company - as their way in.