The New Wave Of Cyber Terrorism Is Here

THERE HAS BEEN AN ALARMING RISE IN TARGETED ATTACKS AIMED AT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED SABOTAGE AND SUBVERSION

Cyber criminals are executing politically devastating attacks in a move to undermine a new class of targets. Cyber attacks against the US Democratic Party and the subsequent leak of stolen information reflect a trend toward criminals employing highly-publicized, overt campaigns designed to destabilize and disrupt targeted organizations and countries. While cyber attacks involving sabotage have traditionally been quite rare, the perceived success of several campaigns – including the US election and Shamoon – point to a growing trend to criminals attempting to influence politics and sow discord in other countries.

“New sophistication and innovation are the nature of the threat landscape, but this year Symantec has identified seismic shifts in motivation and focus,” points out Tarun Kaura, Director, Solution Product Management for Asian Pacific & japan at Symantec. “The world saw specific nation states double down on political manipulation and straight sabotage. Meanwhile, cyber criminals caused unprecedented levels of disruption by focusing their exploits on relatively simple IT tools and cloud services.”