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Security Assessment Tool for Professional Services


Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

 

 

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  • This industry includes a wide range of firms offering services in law, accounting, consulting and more. Cybercriminals know the importance of these organizations’ internet presence, so they often target Web Applications through stolen credentials to hack your system and steal personal data.

  • Total incidents

    7,463

    The number of security incidents (Nov 2018 to Oct 2019) analyzed in this sector in the 2020 DBIR.

  • Top three patterns

    Web Applications 

    Everything Else 

    Miscellaneous Errors 

    The top trends that emerged from this sector’s data (Nov 2018 to Oct 2019) in the 2020 DBIR.

  • Threat actors 

    75% External 

    75 percent


    22% Internal 

    22 percent


    3% Partner 

    2 percent


    1% Multiple 

    1 percent

  • Actor motives 

    93% Financial 

    93 percent


    8% Espionage 

    8 percent


    1% Ideology 

    1 percent

  • Data compromised 

    75% Personal 

    77 percent


    45% Credentials 

    67 percent


    32% Other 

    32 percent


    27% Internal 

    27 percent

Considerations

  • Lots of data invites likely attacks

    After credentials, personal information is the data most likely to be stolen by cybercriminals targeting organizations in this industry—which can be very lucrative when exploited for various kinds of financially motivated fraud.

  • Fight phishing by reporting every attack

    The Professional Services industry is average in terms of receiving phishing attacks, but the damage depends on whether the victim submits their data, and also whether they flag it to their security team. The good news is not too many people fell for it, but the bad news is that the reporting rate is low. Encourage your teams to report every attempt.

  • Pick up the pace with security patches

    Compared to other industries studied, this sector has a better than average patch rate, but still only completes 67% of patches within the first quarter of being discovered. This means that the remaining 33% can leave companies vulnerable to even bigger problems down the road.

  • See the latest trends in cybersecurity.

  •  

    Explore the results of the 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) and see what patterns emerged across the thousands of security incidents, from companies both big and small.

     

    See an overview of all trends

Read specific insights about your industry


  • 2020 dbir cover

  • Understanding the threats can help manage risk effectively

    The threats are real, the attackers motivated. But something stands between them and your organizations data: you and your security teams, with the insight, perspective, and tools to take action. You'll find that all right here.

    Download the report