The “internet of things” (IoT) is increasingly attractive to criminals as well. Three of the top 20 attacks during the fourth quarter of 2017 targeted IoT devices such as wifi cameras, and exploit activity in the IoT world quadrupled. Two challenges in particular are slowing down the industry's ability to address the growth in attacks, Fortinet said.

“The first is that few IoT manufacturers have a Product Security and Incident Response Teams (PSIRT) in place that can respond quickly to new vulnerabilities. This means that after we or other researchers detect device vulnerabilities, getting that information to the right team inside their organization is often a complicated process,” it said. “And second, the lack of regulations around IoT security means getting some of these manufacturers to prioritize a known threat can be even more frustrating, as evidenced by the number of exploits that have been successfully targeting known vulnerabilities for months that still don't have an official CVE attached to them.”

The growth in cybercrime, malware and ransomware should prompt credit unions and other organizations to plan for the worst, according to Fortinet.

“Several strains of ransomware led the throng of malware variants detected in Q4. It's a good reason to make sure the impact of an infection in your firm has minimum impact. That starts with good offline backups. Don't rely on shadow copy or online backups; they'll get encrypted too,” the study said. “Like it or not, the question of to pay or not to pay is something that deserves attention too.” We generally don't recommend paying, but a situation may arise that forces you to at least consider it. Working out the policies and processes ahead of time will likely lead to a more clearheaded decision.”