Cyber attacks that can lead businesses to terminate themselves or protect themselves from further attacks are spreading rapidly. This is why experts are now referring to these attacks as a "digital pandemic".
Europe’s leading security service provider, Orange Cyberdefense, has recently shared their Security Navigator report for 2022. This report features research work along with some insights on the system and views from some leading experts based on the cyber threats globally.
As per the report, the ongoing year witnessed almost 95,000 cyber attacks. The number of attacks went up by 45,398 from the previous year. Similarly, in comparison to thirty-seven attacks per month in 2020, the ongoing year is led by almost forty-two attacks. Such attacks that were mostly reported by the victims were based on system malware, network abnormalities (for example, tunneling), abnormalities faced in accounts and getting phished through socially engineered attacks.
According to the statistical analysis, small-scale businesses had the lowest attack rate of just seventeen percent. While dissecting further into the types of attacks, it was observed that almost thirty-five percent were linked with system malware, closely followed by application and network abnormalities with twenty-nine percent, and the least type was found to be account irregularities with just fourteen percent. Though small-scale platforms had the lowest attack rate, in comparison to attacks done in 2020, the numbers have now gone up by almost ten percent. Moreover, according to Orange Cyberdefense, the attack rate increases gradually with the level of business, but in the case of small platforms, they experience thirty-percent more cyber attacks as compared to middle-class businesses. One reason for the increase in attack frequency could be that these types of businesses usually do not invest much in anti-cyber attack software as compared to medium or large-scale businesses. This is why these platforms are more vulnerable to cyber hackers and, as a result, they experienced more attacks this year.
Mid-level businesses, on the other hand, accounted for nearly a third of all reported cyber crime cases. The major portion of these attacks came from network and application abnormalities, followed by system malware and account abnormalities side by side at the same rate. As compared to the attacks carried out on small-scale businesses, they had fewer reported cases of system malware, very few cases of policy violations, and fewer socially engineered cyber attacks.
Despite having software to protect them from such malicious attacks, well-established, large-scale businesses became the most targeted sites of attacks, accounting for nearly half of all reported attacks. However, the frequency of cyber attacks through different sections was different. System malware was at the top of the list in the majority of reported incidents, accounting for up to 43% of the cases. The second most reported category was app and network abnormalities, with almost 15 percent, and the third most reported category was account abnormalities, with almost 11 percent of cases. It is visible from the report that account and network abnormalities were lower in large businesses as compared to small businesses, but the system malware attacks compensated for these figures with a doubled number of cases in comparison to the previous year. Both small and large-scale business platforms were side by side on the basis of getting ransom calls from the attackers to access their data.
Companies at almost every level have gone through such system malware attacks. This year, the number of cyber attacks increased by nearly 18%. Among the different types of malware attacks, the backdoor version, which allows undetected accessibility, was at the top of the chart with thirty-seven percent of the cases. Second to Backdoor was Downloaded Malware in which the already present coded malware starts downloading other files and initiates their action. The third type was found to be worm malware, which not only sticks with one device or system but has the ability to get transmitted to another system as well.
The report also highlighted different business sectors that were affected by these attacks. Health care was the most common sector for cyber attacks, accounting for 66% of all cases of network and application abnormalities, followed by the transportation industry in second, the finance sector in third, and real estate agencies in fourth.
Other industries, such as manufacturing, the food industry, and traders, had system malware attacks as the most common medium for cyber attacks.
Read next: How to Deal With Personal Data Breaches
Europe’s leading security service provider, Orange Cyberdefense, has recently shared their Security Navigator report for 2022. This report features research work along with some insights on the system and views from some leading experts based on the cyber threats globally.
As per the report, the ongoing year witnessed almost 95,000 cyber attacks. The number of attacks went up by 45,398 from the previous year. Similarly, in comparison to thirty-seven attacks per month in 2020, the ongoing year is led by almost forty-two attacks. Such attacks that were mostly reported by the victims were based on system malware, network abnormalities (for example, tunneling), abnormalities faced in accounts and getting phished through socially engineered attacks.
According to the statistical analysis, small-scale businesses had the lowest attack rate of just seventeen percent. While dissecting further into the types of attacks, it was observed that almost thirty-five percent were linked with system malware, closely followed by application and network abnormalities with twenty-nine percent, and the least type was found to be account irregularities with just fourteen percent. Though small-scale platforms had the lowest attack rate, in comparison to attacks done in 2020, the numbers have now gone up by almost ten percent. Moreover, according to Orange Cyberdefense, the attack rate increases gradually with the level of business, but in the case of small platforms, they experience thirty-percent more cyber attacks as compared to middle-class businesses. One reason for the increase in attack frequency could be that these types of businesses usually do not invest much in anti-cyber attack software as compared to medium or large-scale businesses. This is why these platforms are more vulnerable to cyber hackers and, as a result, they experienced more attacks this year.
Mid-level businesses, on the other hand, accounted for nearly a third of all reported cyber crime cases. The major portion of these attacks came from network and application abnormalities, followed by system malware and account abnormalities side by side at the same rate. As compared to the attacks carried out on small-scale businesses, they had fewer reported cases of system malware, very few cases of policy violations, and fewer socially engineered cyber attacks.
Despite having software to protect them from such malicious attacks, well-established, large-scale businesses became the most targeted sites of attacks, accounting for nearly half of all reported attacks. However, the frequency of cyber attacks through different sections was different. System malware was at the top of the list in the majority of reported incidents, accounting for up to 43% of the cases. The second most reported category was app and network abnormalities, with almost 15 percent, and the third most reported category was account abnormalities, with almost 11 percent of cases. It is visible from the report that account and network abnormalities were lower in large businesses as compared to small businesses, but the system malware attacks compensated for these figures with a doubled number of cases in comparison to the previous year. Both small and large-scale business platforms were side by side on the basis of getting ransom calls from the attackers to access their data.
Companies at almost every level have gone through such system malware attacks. This year, the number of cyber attacks increased by nearly 18%. Among the different types of malware attacks, the backdoor version, which allows undetected accessibility, was at the top of the chart with thirty-seven percent of the cases. Second to Backdoor was Downloaded Malware in which the already present coded malware starts downloading other files and initiates their action. The third type was found to be worm malware, which not only sticks with one device or system but has the ability to get transmitted to another system as well.
The report also highlighted different business sectors that were affected by these attacks. Health care was the most common sector for cyber attacks, accounting for 66% of all cases of network and application abnormalities, followed by the transportation industry in second, the finance sector in third, and real estate agencies in fourth.
Other industries, such as manufacturing, the food industry, and traders, had system malware attacks as the most common medium for cyber attacks.
Read next: How to Deal With Personal Data Breaches