USA: Over the past few years, cybercrime has raised concerns around the world, and the figures for 2022 are particularly worrying.
Some form of malicious online activity has increased by an astonishing 87%, according to a report by cyber security company Sonicwall. The risk of zero-day vulnerabilities also increased by an astonishing 150%.
Cyber criminals tried to downplay the risk taken last year while increasing the number of potential victims. As a result, long-standing trends underwent drastic changes and new hotspots for cybercrime emerged.
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Cybercrime can affect anyone, so the only defense is to be vigilant and invest in top-notch cyber security tools. This will help in mitigating the risks.
Globally, SonicWall saw 493.3 million ransomware attempts last year, a decrease of 21% year-on-year (YOY). Although the total attack volume was still higher than that seen between 2017 and 2020.
In 2022, airlines, governments, schools, hospitals and other institutions suffered reputational damage. In particular, the finance and education sectors grew significantly, with ransomware volume increasing by 275 and 41 percent, respectively.
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Crypto-jacking attempts to peak at 139.3 million in 2022, breaking the 100 million barrier for the first time. This represented a growth of 43%, and saw 30.36 million hits in December alone, setting a new monthly record.
Although there was a global impact, some industries, such as government and healthcare, saw a decline in crypto-jacking attempts.
Malware attacks to grow 2% to 5.5 billion in 2022. This was brought on by the rapid growth of the IoT malware and crypto-jacking industries. Malware incidents have increased significantly in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Attack volumes have decreased in the US, as well as in Germany and the UK, two European countries. A new annual record was set with 112.3 million IoT malware attacks, an increase of 87%.
Despite declines in some attack types, the situation is projected to worsen in the year ahead. All users, regardless of size, must maintain vigilance and make smart investments in cyber security solutions.
