Infographic: New Ponemon SSH Security Vulnerability Report

By Gavin Hill

Global organizations are under attack, and the attackers are more dangerous and persistent than ever. While the motivations vary, the goal of today’s cybercriminal is to become and remain trusted on targeted networks in order to gain full access to sensitive, regulated and valuable data and intellectual property, and circumvent existing controls.

Among the fundamental security controls enterprises rely on to protect data and ensure trust is secure shell (SSH). Yet, according to new research by the Ponemon Institute, system and application administrators—not IT security—are responsible for securing and protecting SSH keys, which exposes critical security vulnerabilities.

The research also found nearly half of all enterprises never rotate or change SSH keys. This makes their networks, servers, and cloud systems owned by the malicious actors in perpetuity when SSH keys are stolen, and represents IT’s dirty little secret, which leaves known and open back doors for cyber-criminals to compromise networks.

Data loss prevention, advanced threat detection solutions and next-generation firewalls cannot consume SSH encrypted traffic, making it easy for adversaries to steal information—over extended periods—without detection. And unlike digital certificates, SSH keys never expire, leaving the vulnerabilities and figurative back doors open indefinably.

This exclusive new infographic provides you with the analysis needed to understand the breach and how it could impact you and your organization.