New Delhi, July 28

Russia-based software security company Kaspersky Lab on Thursday announced that its global research and analysis team has tracked 100-plus sophisticated malicious operations targeting commercial and government organisations in 85 countries.

\"The growing numbers show that sophisticated threat actors are actively improving and extending their arsenal, and a lot of new actors are coming to the stage, significantly raising the overall levels of danger,\" the company said in a statement.

The targeted attacks are not an elite activity anymore as this kind of operation would require a lot of specialists with specific skills and a lot of funding.

Kaspersky Lab researchers have observed the emergence of smaller yet efficient cyber espionage campaigns in recent years.

These groups are hunting for sensitive information, which can be used to gain geopolitical advantages or even sold to anyone willing to pay.

According to Kaspersky, government and diplomatic organisations, financial institutions, energy companies top the list of firms which are at maximum risk of becoming a cyber espionage target.

\"We\'ve been tracking sophisticated targeted attacks for more than six years now and we have seen this kind of activity become a widely used tool for espionage and money theft,\" added Costin Raiu, Director of Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab.

\"Intelligence-based services that make it possible for enterprise security teams to access data about the latest sophisticated threats is a must nowadays,\" Raiu noted.

Kaspersky Lab tracks over 100 sophisticated malicious campaigns