Most Leading Institutions Have 200-300 High-Risk, Third-Party Relationships; CyberArk Provides Best Practices for Strengthening an Enterprise IT Weakness Exploited by Attackers
Newton, Mass., April 8, 2015 – CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR), the company that protects organizations from cyber attacks that have made their way inside the network perimeter, today released a new security brief to protect organizations against cyber attacks through third-party remote access points. The brief, “Securing Remote Vendor Access with Privileged Account Security,” and accompanying Infographic can be downloaded for free: www.cyberark.com/remote-vendor.
“It’s no secret that attackers target the weakest links in IT security, which are often found in accounts provisioned to third-parties for network access,” said John Worrall, Chief Marketing Officer, CyberArk. “Often, these smaller third-party organizations have less sophisticated security policies and controls than the target companies, providing an open backdoor for attackers. With the proper privileged account security controls in place, organizations can provide the network access required for business efficiency while maintaining consistent security across all types of accounts – internal and external.”
The Third-Party, Remote Access Problem
High-profile attacks reveal that malicious hackers target third-party vendors and supply chain partners as a backdoor into their primary target. Organizations in every industry provide network access to third-party vendors, which range from services companies and suppliers to external consultants.
Attackers target less secure partners to compromise remote access points, steal and exploit privileged credentials, and gain access to targeted networks. From here, attackers can elevate privileges, move laterally through the network, and execute their attack goals while completely circumventing the targeted company’s defenses.
According to recent research[i], attackers are increasingly targeting this soft spot in cyber security:
- 60 percent of organizations allow third-party vendors remote access to internal networksˡ
- Top U.S. banks and credit companies average nearly 20,000 third-party suppliers²
- Most leading institutions have 200-300 high-risk, third-party relationships²
- Third-party errors increase the cost of a data breach by as much as $43 per record in the U.S.³
- 100 percent of advanced attacks exploit privileged credentials4
- 63 percent of data breaches are caused by security vulnerabilities introduced by third parties5
- 58 percent of organizations have no confidence that their third-party vendors are securing and monitoring privileged access to their networkˡ
The CyberArk security brief provides organizations with guidance on how to address remote vendor access as a privileged access point that requires tight security controls. Topics covered include: approaches for managing and securing third-party credentials, how to isolate and monitor external sessions, and the importance of threat detection capabilities in security solutions for third-party access.
To download and use the CyberArk Infographic “Third-Party Access: The Hidden Weak Spot Exploited by Attackers,” please visit: www.cyberark.com/remote-vendor-infographic.
To download a free copy of CyberArk’s security brief on securing remote vendor access, please visit: www.cyberark.com/remote-vendor.
Sources:
1 CyberArk 8th Annual Global Advanced Threat Landscape Survey, 2014
2 McKinsey & Company: Managing Third-Party Risk in a Changing Regulatory Environment, May 2013
3 Ponemon Institute 2013 Cost of Data Breach Study: Global Analysis
4 CyberSheath, “APT Privileged Account Exploitation,” April 2013
5 Computerworld: Hackers Hit More Businesses Through Remote Access Accounts, July 2, 2014
