August 5, 2022
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Latest Sonicwall Threat Report Uncovers Massive Shifts In Cyber Arms Race Due To Geopolitical Tensions And Increased Cyber Attacks. 2,8 billion malware attacks already registered in the first half of 2022. Financial sector is under heavy fire.
SonicWall, publisher of the world's top-cited ransomware threat metrics, today released the mid-year update for the 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report. According to the latest report, analyzed and compiled by SonicWall Capture Labs, the global malware tally is up 11 %, IoT malware attacks up 77% and encrypted threats up 132%. In addition, there have been geographic shifts in the case of ransomware, as geopolitical conflicts also affect cybercriminal activities.
IoT attacks are increasing rapidly
In Germany, the number of intrusion attempts increased by 20% compared to the previous year. Although ransomware attacks (-15%) and malware attacks (-13%) decreased slightly, Germany still ranks fourth in a global comparison in terms of the number of ransomware attacks (4) and the number of Malware Attacks (9.372.838).
“In the cyber arms race, cybersecurity and geopolitics have always been inextricably linked. Over the past six months, that connection has been particularly evident in the cyber landscape,” said Bill Conner, President and CEO of SonicWall. “The cyber battlefield has changed. According to our data, ransomware attacks increased by 63% in Europe and targeted attacks against financial services firms increased, while ransomware volume decreased in other regions. With dramatic increases in encrypted threats, IoT malware, cryptojacking and unknown variants, cybersecurity leaders need powerful tools and technologies to proactively detect and mitigate increasingly sophisticated and targeted attacks.”
Ransomware attacks in Europe are on the rise
After a record 2021, ransomware attacks overall declined in the first half of 2022. Globally, they declined for the fourth quarter in a row. Government sanctions, disrupted supply chains, falling cryptocurrency prices and limited availability of the necessary infrastructure are currently making it difficult for cybercriminals. Proprietary threat intelligence from SonicWall confirms this fact: June 2022 saw the lowest number of ransomware attacks per month in two years. This decline contributed to a reduction in overall global volume.
“Cyber criminals are diversifying their tactics and expanding their attack vectors. Therefore, we expect the global volume of ransomware to increase - not only in the next six months, but also in the coming years," said Conner. "In this extremely turbulent geopolitical landscape, cybercriminals are constantly evolving their attacks and tools, targeting diverse targets and geographic regions."
While global ransomware activity decreased at the beginning of the year, Europe saw a significant increase in malware attacks (+29% YoY) and ransomware attacks (+63%). Seven of the XNUMX countries most affected by ransomware volume are in Europe (UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Ukraine), indicating a shift in the cyber threat landscape in this region.
Malware makes a comeback - up 11% worldwide
Malware activity fell slightly in 2021, which not only represented a three-year decline, but also marked its lowest level in seven years. However, as predicted in the SonicWall Cyber Threat Report 2022, a rebound was expected due to a significant increase in attacks in the second half of 2021. More than 2022 billion malware attacks occurred in the first six months of 2,8. During the same period in North America, encrypted threats increased by a whopping 284% and IoT malware by 228%.
Similar to ransomware, malware attacks stayed around the same level or decreased in certain hotspots, such as the US (-1%), UK (-9%) and Germany (-13%). Collectively, however, the numbers increased in Europe (29%) and Asia (32%).
🔎 Sonicwall's new Thread Report 2022 (Image: Sonicwall).
Financial sector: doubled attack numbers
"The international threat landscape is undergoing dislocations that are creating fundamentally new challenges not only for Europe but also for the United States," said Immanuel Chavoya, emerging threats expert at SonicWall. “Cyber criminals are trying more ambitious than ever to outperform the cybersecurity industry. And compared to many companies they target, threat actors are not lacking in skills, motivation, know-how and funding opportunities.”
In the financial sector, malware attacks increased by 100%, ransomware activity by 243%, and cryptojacking attempts by as much as 269%.
Record number of brand new malware variants registered
SonicWall's patented Real-Time Deep Memory InspectionTM (RTDMI) technology identified 270.228 brand new malware variants in the first half of 2022 - a 45% increase year-to-date. In no previous quarter have so many completely new malware variants been identified as in the first quarter of 2022 (147.851), with March 2022 breaking all records (59.259).
Since the launch of RTDMI technology in early 2018, the number of new variants has skyrocketed by June 2022 by a factor of 21. These are new, previously unknown cyber attacks that cannot be detected by traditional sandboxing solutions.
About SonicWall
SonicWall provides limitless cybersecurity for an extremely decentralized work environment where everyone is remote, mobile and potentially at risk. Thanks to SonicWall, companies that have to find their way in a changing world of work benefit from seamless protection against highly developed threats that attack their network via countless points of attack and increasingly mobile and cloud-based employees. With the identification of unknown threats, advanced real-time monitoring functions and outstanding cost-effectiveness, SonicWall is helping companies, government agencies and SMBs around the world to close the cybersecurity gap.
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