How usually do cyberattacks occur? How regularly do risk actors goal companies and governments around the globe? The BlackBerry® Risk Analysis and Intelligence Group lately analyzed 90 days of real-world information to reply these questions. Full outcomes are within the newest BlackBerry International Risk Intelligence Report, however learn on for a teaser of a number of attention-grabbing cyber assault statistics.
Analyzing Actual-World Cyberattacks
Of their most up-to-date quarterly report, BlackBerry risk researchers analyzed the onslaught of malware-based assaults from December 2022 to February 2023. Throughout that point, BlackBerry’s AI-powered endpoint safety resolution, detected and blocked a complete of 1,578,733 malware-based cyberattacks focusing on prospects.
90 Days of Cyberattacks
Primarily based on evaluation of cyberattacks detected and blocked throughout the 90-day window, the BlackBerry Risk Analysis and Intelligence Group recorded the next statistics:
- Complete variety of malware-based assaults: 1,578,733
- Variety of distinctive assaults (utilizing beforehand undetected malware): 200,454
- Common variety of cyberattacks per day: 17,280
- Common variety of cyberattacks per hour: 720
- Common variety of assaults per minute: 12
- Common variety of new malware variants per minute: 1.5
The newest report additionally analyzes adjustments within the velocity of cyberattacks detected throughout this era. The graph beneath exhibits a big peak occurred in early December 2022, adopted by a noticeable drop within the final week of the yr, as many risk actors and their targets appeared to take a vacation break. Attacks ramped up once more as cybercriminals bought again to work within the new yr.
The variety of new malware variants detected was pretty constant throughout the research interval. Legacy signature-based antivirus merchandise provide restricted worth in opposition to this regular onslaught of beforehand unseen assaults, main many organizations to change over to AI-based EPP (endpoint safety platform) options which have confirmed to be considerably simpler when evaluated by unbiased testing.
Most-Focused Industries
The BlackBerry Risk Analysis and Intelligence Group additionally recognized the most-attacked industries amongst these prospects protected by BlackBerry merchandise. The next information is predicated on the variety of occasions BlackBerry’s zero belief entry resolution, CylanceEDGE™, stopped cyberattacks focusing on organizations in numerous sectors.
Essentially the most-targeted industries throughout the research interval included:
- Monetary establishments
- Healthcare providers and gear, together with hospitals, clinics, and medical units
- Meals and staples retailers, together with supermarkets, drugstores, and corporations that promote meals merchandise to different companies
The report discovered these vertical industries accounted for 60% of the general variety of assaults. BlackBerry risk researchers additionally analyzed the sorts of malware deployed in opposition to these verticals.
The report reveals CylanceEDGE blocked 231,510 malware assaults in opposition to the monetary providers business, with a median of 2,601 malware-based assaults tried per day. Beforehand undetected malware variants appeared in 34 distinctive assaults every day. This information helped researchers verify that Metasploit®, an open-source pen-testing utility, stays some of the in style instruments abused by risk actors focusing on this business.
Cyberattacks in opposition to the healthcare business totaled 93,000 of the blocked assaults. These included 5,246 distinctive malware samples used in opposition to the healthcare vertical, averaging 59 beforehand undetected variants neutralized by BlackBerry applied sciences every day. The report notes a rise in use of the Emotet Trojan, the adversary simulation software Cobalt Strike, and pervasive ransomware variants reminiscent of BlackCat being deployed in opposition to the healthcare business throughout the reporting interval.
Attacks in opposition to retail and retail provide chains comprised 12% of tried intrusions stopped by BlackBerry endpoint security options. These industries present important providers, and any failure of their ecosystems can result in severe penalties that reverberate not solely regionally but additionally all through the area, the nation, or certainly the world. Rising digital transformation and interconnectedness inside and amongst business verticals elevate dangers even larger.
What the Numbers Inform Us
Cybersecurity practitioners throughout quite a few industries proceed to wrestle in opposition to a rising tide of fast-moving, refined cyberthreats. BlackBerry’s CTO Shishir Singh asserts that the emergence of cybersecurity’s third technology will assist, by ushering in additional predictive defensive capabilities, fueled by additional advances in synthetic intelligence and machine studying. As these applied sciences mature, nonetheless, organizations are inspired to extend their deal with prioritizing present defenses based mostly on contextualized cyber risk intelligence (CTI). The insights gleaned from expertly crafted, curated, and customised CTI may help organizations anticipate and face up to assaults, shortly recuperate from cyber incidents, and adapt to their evolving risk panorama.
For the newest data on new cyberattacks and the general risk panorama, discover the BlackBerry International Risk Intelligence Report.
Word: This text is expertly written and contributed by Bruce Sussman, Sr. Supervisor of Editorial at BlackBerry. He’s a lifelong journalist who’s captivated with cybersecurity as a result of it’s continually in flux. He beforehand labored with CISOs and cybersecurity leaders at Gartner and SecureWorld.