Symantec’s latest threat report might make for depressing reading for chief security officers, highlighting as it does the massive growth in phishing and web application vulnerabilities. The criminalisation of hacking and malware writing means attackers have raised their game, which may have caught some security teams off-guard.

Today’s threats are fast moving, and are often combined with a whole network of attack activity. So IT chiefs must think strategically about how their separate divisions can work together more effectively, sharing information and pooling resources.

Large enterprises might already be working in this way to secure their data and brand but those who are lagging behind would do well to re-evaluate their data security processes.