Security report shows extent of global cyber pandemic
A new report shows how hackers and criminals are exploiting the Covid 19 pandemic to target all areas of the enterprise. Tactics range from cloud exploits to phishing and ransmware.
Checkpoint has released its Security Report 2021. Among other things, the report shows which attack vectors and techniques were observed by CPR researchers last year.
Poor cloud security
Among the highlights of Check Point Research 2021 are new aspects such as cloud security. According to the report, the introduction of the cloud is hurrying ahead of IT security. Public cloud security remains a major concern for 75 percent of organizations. In addition, more than 80 percent of companies found that their existing security tools do not work at all or only to a limited extent in the cloud. The cloud therefore remains a major challenge.
Remote working and smartphones in focus
Furthermore, remote working is increasingly becoming the target of cybercriminals. Hackers are increasingly trying to steal data or infiltrate networks, using Trojans such as Emotetg and Qbot. The attacks mainly took place via RDP and VPN.
In addition, double-extortion ransomware attacks had also increased. In the third quarter of 2020, almost half of all attacks involved ransomware for data. On average, one organization worldwide falls victim to ransomware every ten seconds.
Attacks against healthcare are also growing rapidly and becoming an "epidemic," according to Checkpoint. In the fourth quarter, Checkpoint Research reported that attacks (particularly ransomware attacks) against hospitals increased by 45 percent globally.
Cell phones are also increasingly becoming "moving targets." According to the report, 46 percent of all organizations now know of at least one employee who downloaded malicious mobile applications in 2020, which in turn compromised company networks and data.
