87% of geo-distributed businesses using container development faced recent cyberattacks

Woburn, MA – May 29, 2024 – A strong majority (87%) of geo-distributed companies based in the U.S. using container development methods experienced cybersecurity incidents in the last 12 months, according to a new Kaspersky study. These organizations, which used containers and/or Kubernetes, faced a wide range of cyber incidents, with catastrophic results, including confidential data leaks (46%), financial losses (35%), and decreased customer trust (27%).

For its latest study[1], “Managing geographically distributed businesses: challenges and solutions,” Kaspersky gathered the opinions of IT security and information security professionals, as well as C-level decision makers, working for geo-distributed companies regarding network security challenges in building and maintaining multi-site infrastructure. The study also highlights the problems these organizations face when operating in hybrid cloud and containerized environments. 

The vast majority (96%) of the companies with multi-site networks participating in the study had in-house IT development teams, with 83% of them using a container development method. Of those using container methods, 87% (85% globally) reported experiencing cybersecurity incidents related to containers and/ or Kubernetes in the last 12 months.

The consequences of the cyber incidents experienced by these companies were severe: 46% of them (compared to 39% globally) led to confidential data leaks, 35% caused financial losses, and 29% resulted in the loss of customer trust. Respondents reported the primary reasons for the attacks were errors in configurations (27%) (vs. 34% globally), flaws in runtime security process (43%) (32% globally), and late detection of malware in containers (23%) (32% globally).

“Cybersecurity incidents related to containers and Kubernetes present significant challenges for geo-distributed companies,” Timofey Titkov, head of cloud & network security product line, Kaspersky. “The findings from our study underscore the critical importance of implementing robust security measures to safeguard against confidential data leaks and other cyberthreats in hybrid cloud and containerized environments. As organizations continue to expand their digital footprint, proactive security measures are essential to mitigate risks and maintain customer trust.”

The full report with more findings on the challenges facing geo-distributed companies is available here.

To protect containerized environments, Kaspersky recommends:

Use specialized solutions for container security, such as Kaspersky Container Security, designed to ensure security across all stages of containerized application development. This can serve as the initial step in implementing complex DevOps and cloud security solutions, like the forthcoming Kaspersky Cloud Workload Security. The ecosystem provides customers’ cloud infrastructure with comprehensive protection covering hosts, virtual machines, instances in clouds, containers and Kubernetes. Additionally, it reduces costs and resource consumption.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. With over a billion devices protected to date from emerging cyberthreats and targeted attacks, Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection, specialized security products and services, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. We help over 220,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

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Sawyer Van Horn

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