Experts call for stronger stance on cyberthreats

Technical experts have called for the battle against cyberthreats to be enhanced through the use of the latest technology, such as deep learning, to reduce attacks on networks and avoid data breaches.

Dan Schiappa, senior vice-president and general manager of products at Sophos Ltd, a London-listed global leader in network and endpoint security, voiced the need for special attention on servers, as these are the bull's-eye for cybercriminals because they store valuable information and have a broader purpose than individual endpoints.

"An entire company could be wiped out if cybercriminals infiltrate its servers with ransomware or malicious code, or exploit vulnerabilities to gain access," he said, noting that "once breached, attackers can get deep into the network and have the ability to do some serious damage, as well as exfiltrate data."

According to Qin Dachun, general manager of Anhui O2O Information Technology Co, China now has some 73 million market entities, and 95.6 percent of its companies have access to the internet while the number of people surfing the internet reached 751 million by the end of last year.

"Amid these fast developments, cyberthreats are on the increase. This needs enhanced efforts and technology to subdue them," he said, affirming that the need for server protection exists in organizations of all sizes, with smaller businesses potentially being more at risk than larger ones.

China's top leadership also called for "clean cyberspace" during a major national conference last October in Beijing.

Releasing its next-generation server protection product - Sophos Intercept X for Server - in Beijing, Sophos China General-Manager Tony Chung said Sophos' deep learning neural networks are trained on numerous samples to prevent never-before-seen malware attacks.

Sophos is based in Oxford in the UK and started to produce antivirus and encryption products nearly 30 years ago. It now helps 100 million users in 150 countries and 100,000 businesses that rely on its complete security solutions as high-quality protection against complex threats and data loss.

SophosLabs research indicated that 75 percent of malware is unique to the organization in which it is found, indicating the majority of malware is previously unknown.

A recent Sophos survey also reveals that two-thirds of IT managers worldwide don't understand what antiexploit technology is, leaving their organizations vulnerable to data breaches.

"Once inside a network, cybercriminals can use persistent and lateral moves to target and take over servers to access the high-value data stored there, such as personally identifiable information, banking, tax, payroll and other financial records, proprietary intellectual properties and shared applications," Schiappa said.

"As IT networks grow in complexity, all devices - including networks, servers and devices - must be covered for proper security," said Mohamed Noureldin, a doctoral student at the University of Science and Technology of China.

Ma Shuyuan and Zhang Ran contributed to the story.