July 10, 2014

Although cloud-based file storage services have long been popular among Internet users, the indisputable convenience of such services is to some extent offset by a number of risks: One possible scenario is cybercriminals gaining control of an employee’s laptop via a Dropbox client installed on it. This could happen when the employee is away from the office. If infected documents are placed in cloud folders, Dropbox will automatically copy them to all devices connected to the corporate network that also run the same service. A standard recommendation for system administrators in this case is to install a fully functional security suite featuring heuristic and behavioral antivirus protection, access control (HIPS), operating system control (System Watcher or Hypervisor), protection against vulnerability exploitation, etc. on each workstation on the network.

After collecting data from consenting Kaspersky Lab users, the analysts determined that about 30% of the malware found in cloud folders on home computers is planted via synchronization mechanisms. For corporate users, the figure reaches 50%. It should be noted that there is a certain difference between corporate and home users: the former more typically have infected Microsoft Office files in their cloud folders, while on the computers of the latter these often co-exist with malicious Android apps.

You can view more details on the following link:

http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2014/Corporate-security-forecast-cloudy-Kaspersky-Lab-on-cybercriminals-who-take-advantage-of-cloud-services