As battle
against cybercrime continues during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Check Point
Research reports 40% increase in cyberattacks
Globally in 2021, 1 out of every 61
organizations is impacted by ransomware each week
Check Point Research (CPR),
the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd. , a leading provider of cyber
security solutions globally, reports that as we enter Cybersecurity
Awareness Month in October, globally, there are 40% more attacks weekly on
organizations in 2021 compared to 2020.
Globally,
after a slight decrease in the weeks before March 2020, from March 2020, there
was a significant increase in the average weekly number of attacks on each
organization over the months including 2021. In September 2021, the average
weekly number of attacks on each organization globally reached its peak with
over 870 attacks. This is more than double the number of attacks in March 2020.
While
Africa is the most targeted region for cyberattacks, Europe and North America
faced the biggest increases in cyberattacks between 2020 and 2021.
Organizations in Africa experienced the highest volume of attacks so far in
2021, with an average of 1,615 weekly attacks per organization. This is a 15%
increase from last year. This is followed by APAC with an average of 1,299
weekly attacks per organization (20% increase), followed by Latin America with
an average of 1,117 attacks weekly (37% increase), Europe with 665 (65%
increase) and North America with 497 (57% increase).
The
sectors which are experiencing the highest volumes of cyberattacks are
Education/Research with an average of 1,468 attacks per organization each week
(increase of 60% from 2020), followed by Government/Military with 1,082 (40%
increase) and Healthcare with 752 (55% increase).
Ransomware
continues to plague organizations across the world
In
addition, CPR observed that globally in 2021, on average, 1 out of every 61
organizations is impacted by ransomware each week – a 9% increase compared to
2020. The ISP/MSP sector is the industry most attacked by ransomware this year.
The average weekly number of impacted organizations in this sector in 2021 is 1
out of 36 (32% increase from 2020). Healthcare is in second place with 1 out of
44 organizations having been impacted (39% increase) followed by software
vendors in third place with 1 out of 52 organizations (21% increase).
APAC is
seeing the highest volume of attack attempts by ransomware with 1 out of 34
organizations being impacted every week in 2021. This is a 10% decrease
compared to 2020. This is followed by Africa with 1 out of 48 organizations
being impacted (7% decrease) and Latin America with 1 out of 57 organizations
(6% increase).
“October
is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and a time for everyone to be reminded about
the role they play in ensuring cybersecurity, both locally and across the
world,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Group Manager, Threat Intelligence
and Research Organization, Check Point Software Technologies. “Since the
outbreak of the pandemic globally, cyber criminals have sprung into action to
take advantage of the opportunities presented to them. With the continued rise
in cyberattacks, Check Point Software recommends that organizations adopt a preventive
approach to cybersecurity, rather than work on remediation after the fact when
damage has been inflicted.”
The
malware type which has impacted organizations the most is the botnet with an
average of over 8% organizations being impacted weekly (a 9% decrease from
2020). This is followed by banking malware at 4.6% (a 26% increase) and
cryptominers at 4.2% (a 22% decrease).
The data
used in this report was detected by Check
Point Software's Threat Protection technologies, stored and analyzed in Check
Point ThreatCloud. ThreatCloud provides real-time
threat intelligence derived from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide,
over networks, endpoints and mobiles. The intelligence is enriched with
AI-based engines and exclusive research data from Check Point Research – The
intelligence & research arm of Check Point Software Technologies.
Source: Check Point Software media announcement
