Cisco has announced the release of its first annual report on the global state of security, spotlighting challenges that businesses, government organisations, and consumers increasingly face and offering guidance on how to guard against them.

The 2007 Cisco Annual Security Report, released in conjunction with the company’s new Cisco Security Centre, provides a concise summary of the past year’s major issues. It offers threat predictions for 2008 and recommendations from Cisco security practitioners, such as Chief Security Officer John Stewart and Vice President of Technical Support Dave Goddard.

While the report’s findings are dense, many prevailing takeaways reinforce the fact that threats and attacks are more global and sophisticated in nature, and this trend will continue in 2008. As Web 2.0 technology evolves and adoption of more and more IP-connected devices, applications, and communication methods increases, a greater number and opportunity for attacks unfold. Combined, these trends are writing a new chapter in the history of security threats and attack methodologies.

According to Stewart, information security is no longer just a battle against a virus or spam attack. There are oftentimes legal, identity-based, and political factors involved. He pointed to identity theft at major retailers and a recent distributed denial-of-service attack reportedly launched by hacker gangs within Russia on its neighbor Estonia this spring as examples. The cyber attack, which stemmed from outrage over Estonian authorities’ decision to move a Soviet-era war memorial from a park, derailed many of the country’s government Web sites.

"Cybercrime is evolving before our eyes, oftentimes using well known techniques seen before only in electronic form,” Stewart said. “You just can't afford to view information security threats as a standalone duel against a virus or a phishing attack; it is social engineering and technology, trust and pervasive use. Today, the effort to secure businesses, personal identities, and countries requires a greater level of coordination among parties that have not traditionally worked together as closely as they'll need to. IT security teams, businesses, government, law enforcement, consumers, citizens – they’re all targets, yet they're also all allies. The effectiveness of national, enterprise, and personal security will depend on the collaboration and communication between all of these constituencies."