300% Increase in Cyber-Attacks as Criminals Target Key Industries

NTT Ltd. launched its annual Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) today which found up to a 300% increase in attacks on specific sectors and types of software in the move to remote and digital services.

The report highlighted cyber-opportunists seizing on the effects of the pandemic, who committed major attacks on the healthcare, manufacturing, and finance industries, with 200%, 300% and 53% increases, respectively. It also showed a 41% impact from Cryptocurrency miners on all detected malware globally, among other critical attacks.

Manufacturing bore the brunt of these attacks in the UK and Ireland, with 93% of all hostile activity targeted at the industry being web-application or application specific attacks.

Kazu Yozawa, CEO of NTT’s Security division noted how they “predicted a surge in targeted, opportunistic attacks” and how the “fall in security standards when companies need them most is alarming”.

Yozawa: “As services continue to move online and become increasingly digital to account for the new normal, organisations must be extra vigilant in upholding and maintaining best practices in their security”.

Cyber-Attacks Were “Always Bound to Happen”

Mark Thomas leads NTT’S Global Threat Intelligence Center comments, and he mentioned how attacks were always bound to happen given the increase in popularity of cryptocurrency markets among “inexperienced students”.

Thomas: “Changes in operating models or adoption of new technologies present opportunities for malicious actors and with a surging crypto-currency market popular among inexperienced students; attacks were bound to happen”.

“Now, as we enter a more stable phase of the pandemic, organisations and individuals alike must prioritize cybersecurity hygiene across all industries, including the supply chain”.

Amid the devastating facts revealed in this year’s GTIR, it is crucial now, more than ever, that companies address the issues at hand and contribute to a drop in these figures.