AgenciesTechnology services provider NTT said more than half the cyberattacks in 2019 were a combination of web application and application-specific attacks, up from 32% in the previous year. This was among the key findings of the 2020 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), which revealed that despite efforts by organisations to layer up their cyber defences, attackers continued to innovate faster than ever and automate their attacks.
Organisations that are relying more on their web presence during Covid-19, such as customer portals, retail sites and supported web applications, risk exposing themselves through systems and applications that cybercriminals are already targeting heavily, according to the Japan-headquartered firm.
While the number of attacks increased across industries, as per data gathered between September 2018 and October 2019, the technology and government sectors were the most attacked globally. Technology became the most attacked industry for the first time, accounting for 25% of all attacks (up from 17%in the previous year). More than half the attacks aimed at this sector were application-specific (31%) and DoS/DDoS (25%) attacks, and there was an increase in weaponisation of IoT attacks as well.
Within the government sector, attacks were driven largely by geopolitical activity accounting for 16% of threat activity, and finance was third with 15% of all activity. Business and professional services (12%) and education (9%) were the other top attacked industries.
Other key findings:
· Websites posing as ‘official’ source of Covid-19 information, but host exploiting kits and/or malware – created at an incredible rate, sometimes exceeding 2,000 new sites per day.
· Most common attack types accounted for 88% of all attacks: Application-specific (33%), web application (22%), reconnaissance (14%), DoS/DDoS (14%) and network manipulation (5%) attacks.
· Attackers are innovating by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning and investing in automation. Some 21% of malware detected was in the form of a vulnerability scanner, which supports the premise that automation is a key focus point of attackers.
· Old vulnerabilities remain an active target: Attackers leveraged those that are several years old, but have not been patched by organisations, such as HeartBleed, which helped make OpenSSL the second most targeted software with 19% of attacks globally.
· DoS/DDoS attacks in APAC were higher than the global average, and about three times the DoS/DDoS rate in EMEA, regularly appearing in the top five common attack types.
Organisations that are relying more on their web presence during Covid-19, such as customer portals, retail sites and supported web applications, risk exposing themselves through systems and applications that cybercriminals are already targeting heavily, according to the Japan-headquartered firm.
“The current global crisis has shown us that cybercriminals will always take advantage of any situation and organisations must be ready for anything. We are already seeing an increased number of ransomware attacks on healthcare organisations and we expect this to get worse before it gets better,” said Matthew Gyde, CEO of the security division at NTT.
While the number of attacks increased across industries, as per data gathered between September 2018 and October 2019, the technology and government sectors were the most attacked globally. Technology became the most attacked industry for the first time, accounting for 25% of all attacks (up from 17%in the previous year). More than half the attacks aimed at this sector were application-specific (31%) and DoS/DDoS (25%) attacks, and there was an increase in weaponisation of IoT attacks as well.
Within the government sector, attacks were driven largely by geopolitical activity accounting for 16% of threat activity, and finance was third with 15% of all activity. Business and professional services (12%) and education (9%) were the other top attacked industries.
Other key findings:
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· Websites posing as ‘official’ source of Covid-19 information, but host exploiting kits and/or malware – created at an incredible rate, sometimes exceeding 2,000 new sites per day.
· Most common attack types accounted for 88% of all attacks: Application-specific (33%), web application (22%), reconnaissance (14%), DoS/DDoS (14%) and network manipulation (5%) attacks.
· Attackers are innovating by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning and investing in automation. Some 21% of malware detected was in the form of a vulnerability scanner, which supports the premise that automation is a key focus point of attackers.
· Old vulnerabilities remain an active target: Attackers leveraged those that are several years old, but have not been patched by organisations, such as HeartBleed, which helped make OpenSSL the second most targeted software with 19% of attacks globally.
· DoS/DDoS attacks in APAC were higher than the global average, and about three times the DoS/DDoS rate in EMEA, regularly appearing in the top five common attack types.
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