Kaspersky Lab said the number of victims affected by targeted attacks in 2014 grew to 2.4 times that of 2013. The antivirus software provider also noted “advanced threat actors” affected organizations in at least 20 industries this year, including the energy, finance and manufacturing sectors.

“Targeted operations could mean disaster for the victim: resulting in the leak of sensitive information such as intellectual property, compromised corporate networks, interrupted business processes and the wiping of data. There are tens of scenarios that all end up with the same impact: the loss of influence, reputation and money,” Alex Gostev, Kaspersky global research and analysis team’s chief security expert, said in a prepared statement.

Kaspersky said it detected malicious mobile software in more than 200 countries between Nov. 2013 and Oct. 2014 as well, along with:

Thirty-eight percent of user computers were subjected to at least one web attack during this time frame, Kaspersky added, and nearly one in five Android device users encountered a mobile threat at least once.

How can MSPs protect their customers against mobile threats?

Offering cloud-based security services could help managed service providers (MSPs) safeguard their customers against mobile threats over the next several years.

Managed security service providers (MSSPs) offer network security services that are quickly becoming important for organizations worldwide.

Transparency Market Research earlier this year predicted the cloud-based managed security services market would expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.4 percent between 2013 and 2019 and could be worth more than $24 billion by 2019.

And if this market grows as expected, MSSPs could reap the rewards of new revenue streams.

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