Weak security controls push 50% rise in cyberattacks in 2021: Report

The year 2021 witnessed 50% spike in overall attacks on corporate networks per week as compared to 2020, says a new Check Point research report.  

In Q4 of 2021 there was an all-time peak in weekly cyberattacks per organisation, counting over 900 attacks per organization, globally.    

From mid-2020 throughout 2021, there has been an upwards trend in the number of cyber-attacks. This trend reached an all-time high at the end of the year, peaking to 925 cyber attacks a week per organization, globally.  

Read more: 30% of Critical Infrastructures to experience severe cyberattack by 2025: Gartner

Less than a month after the world witnessed one of the most serious vulnerabilities on the internet, with millions of attacks per hour attempting to exploit the Log4J vulnerability, 2021 been a record breaking year in terms of cyber-security. Back in October, a 40% increase in cyber-attacks globally was reported, with 1 out of every 61 organizations worldwide impacted by ransomware each week.  

Also read: New Log4J flaw puts 41% of Indian corporates at risk of hacks

In 2021, education/research was the sector that experienced the highest volume of attacks, with an average of 1,605 attacks per organization every week. This was a 75% increase from 2020. This was followed by the government/military sector, which had 1,136 attacks per week (47% increase), and the communications industry which had 1,079 attacks weekly per organization (51% increase).  

The report explains that there is not a single silver-bullet technology that can protect organizations from all threats and all threat vectors. However, there are many great technologies and ideas available – machine learning, sandboxing, anomaly detection, content disarmament, and numerous more. Each of these technologies can be highly effective in specific scenarios, covering specific file types or attack vectors.  

Two key components to consider are threat extraction (file sanitization) and threat emulation (advanced sandboxing). Each element provides distinct protection, that when used together, offers a comprehensive solution for protection against unknown malware at the network level and directly on endpoint devices.   

The report further states that quite often, user awareness can prevent an attack before it occurs. Take the time to educate your users and ensure that if they see something unusual, they report it to your security teams immediately. User education has always been a key element in avoiding malware infections.