Corporate Cyber Attacks Up 50% Last Year
Research carried out by Check Point Software Technologies has produced global statistics about increases in cyber attacks on organisations in 2021 by region, country and industry sector and according these 2021 saw 50% more cyber attacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020.
The record 50% increase attacks per week on corporate networks peaked in December, largely due to Log4J exploits.
Hackers targeted Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America the most, but Europe saw the highest percent increase in cyber attacks year over year. Education/Research placed first for most targeted industry sector worldwide.
Most Targeted Sectors Worldwide by Hackers in 2021
- Education/Research sector up by 75%
- Cyber attacks on Healthcare sector up by 71%
- ISP/MSP up by 67%
- Communications +51%
- Government / Military sector up by 47%
The trend of increasing cyber attacks reached an all-time high at the end of 2021 after revelations of the Log4J exploit, peaking to 925 cyber attacks a week per organisation, globally.
Most Targeted Regions
- Europe (+68%)
- North America (+61%)
- Latin America (+38%)
- Asia Pacific (+25%)
- Africa (+13%)
Head of Research at Check Point, Omer Dembinsky, commented “Hackers keep innovating. Last year, we saw a staggering 50% more cyber attacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020, that’s a significant increase. We saw cyber attack numbers peak towards the end of the year, largely due to the Log4J vulnerability exploit attempts.
New penetration techniques and evasion methods have made it much easier for hackers to execute malicious intentions. Even more alarming is the surge in critical industries being targetd for attack. Education, Government and Healthcare among the top 5 most attacked industries list, worldwide.
Dembinsky expects these numbers to increase going into 2022, as hackers continue to innovate and find new methods to execute cyber attacks, especially ransomware. “I strongly urge the public, especially those in the education, government and healthcare sectors, to learn the basics on how to protect themselves. Simple measures such as patching, segmenting your networks and educating employees can go a long way in making the world safer.” he said.
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