Building an Information Security Awareness Program

Chapter 4

Most Attacks Are Targeted

Bill Gardner    Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA

Abstract

Over the past several years, a number of industries have been targeted in attacks seeking to steal intellectual property from large multinational companies, nonprofits, and governments. Some of these attacks have targeted everything from large defense firms to small law firms. These targeted attacks often leverage spear phishing for the initial breach. The attackers then use the footholds gained in the initial attack to further penetrate the organization to steal privilege and confidential data and intellectual property. Attackers are better funded and better staffed than more of the organizations being targeted, and they are getting around ...