Most Notable Threats

22/12/2016

According to LACNIC WARP, LACNIC’s computer security incident Warning, Advice and Reporting Point, Phishing, Ransomware and Denial-of-service Attacks by Botnets topped the list of computer threats detected this year in Latin America and the Caribbean.
LACNIC WARP records show that most reported attacks originated in resources corresponding to other regions, mainly North America followed by Europe.
Graciela Martínez, Head of LACNIC WARP, noted that the number of reported attacks continues to grow. “We live in an interconnected world where more and more devices are connected; this means that attacks will continue to occur,” said Martínez.
The security expert warned that more tools are available to attackers, the result of which is that attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
This year nobody was spared from attacks, as all kinds of organizations were targeted. According to Martínez, “We used to think that only organizations that moved money online —such as banks— would be targeted; now it is important to keep in mind that information is a very valuable asset and can also be the target of cybercrime.”
Improving Security. LACNIC has worked hard to support various organizations across the region by training cybersecurity experts. LACNIC WARP has been promoting the creation of cybersecurity incident response teams in its sevice region.
“Specifically, this year we visited five countries: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay and Belize. In the latter we offered training in English for the first time. A total of approximately 150 experts and professionals received training at these workshops,” said the Head of LACNIC WARP.
These training activities were very rewarding, as they helped raise awareness about the need to deal with security incident management in a dedicated way and also allowed creating closer ties to the local communities in the countries where the workshops took place.
“The success of each workshop motivates us to continue improving their content,” Martínez.
Agreement with FIRST. As part of the activities aimed at strenthening its strategy for improving cybersecurity, LACNIC signed an agreement with the Global Forum for Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). This alliance formalizes the activities LACNIC and FIRST have been carrying out jointly for some time and also creates an opportunity for bringing the members of our region closer to this global community. “We will be offering training and cooperating in the creation of response teams across the region,” added Martínez.
The Head of LACNIC WARP observed that organizations can no longer “look the other way” when it comes security issues and that everyone is responsible for taking care of the Internet so “it remains stable, open and secure.” In this sense, she concluded by stressing that “creating response teams is not enough; it is also important to continue training cybersecurity experts.”