Businesses Struggle to Keep Up in Fight Against Cyberattacks

Businesses Struggle to Keep Up in Fight Against Cyberattacks

NEW YORK—

Cybersecurity criminals are more "sophisticated, bold and resilient" than ever, according to a new study by U.S. computer networking company Cisco, which revealed major flaws in businesses’ attempts to thwart¹ and recover from attacks.

Among the shortcomings, Cisco found a 10 percent drop in up-to-date security infrastructure² reported by organizations over the course of a year.  The company analyzed³ 115,000 devices; 92 percent were running software with known vulnerabilities.  

Cisco Principal Engineer Jason Brvenik told VOA attackers are fairly indiscriminate in determining whom to target, instead leveraging⁴ opportunities to increase efficiency and profits.

Cyberattacks

"It doesn't matter if they're attacking a person for a cyber ransom⁵ or a business. What they do is they find out what they can leverage⁶ and then they use it," Brvenik said.

He said defenders⁷, as they move toward more continuous analytics models, are able to more quickly detect an attack and outsource instant responses.

"Numerically, we see that as an industry, it's a 100- to 200-day estimate for the detection of a breach⁸, but more modern technologies as people deploy⁹ them are able to push that number down to a matter of hours," he said.

As of May 2015, Cisco said it reduced the median time to detect threats within its networks to roughly 17 hours.

The fight against cybercrime has opened a largely untapped job market for cybersecurity practitioners¹⁰, which Forbes reports is expected to grow from $75 billion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020.

Demand for professionals

Tara Sinclair, chief economist¹¹ of Indeed, a global job site company based in the U.S., said employers’ security concerns have led to a large increase in demand for trained professionals in the field.

"They're definitely concerned about their businesses," Sinclair said. "They're concerned about having employees that are protective of their property and making sure that they're not going to be attacked."

Globally, Cisco has estimated 1 million unfilled jobs in security.

Symantec, the world’s largest security software vendor¹², expects this gap to grow to 1.5 million by 2019.

Brvenik said many universities are doing their part to bring qualified¹³ talent to the market. Among businesses, he said, 90 percent of those surveyed by Cisco reported having programs in place for cyber awareness¹⁴ and training.

1 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

6 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

7 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

9 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

10 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

13 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

14 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。