Customers increasingly rely on trusted vendors to protect their sensitive data, systems, and operations from sophisticated cyber threats in today’s dynamic threat landscape. Threats, ranging from ransomware to business email compromise (BEC), are constantly evolving. This demands a continuous, robust threat intelligence strategy from those protecting businesses. At SonicWall, we have just released our 2024 Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report, which provides insights into the evolving threat landscape, helping businesses better understand adversary behavior and enhance their security strategies. Our goal is to equip managed services providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), customers, partners, and the broader business community with actionable insights to develop and implement effective defensive strategies against both new and old threats.
Threat actors are employing more efficient and sophisticated tactics, significantly increasing various types of cyberattacks. Malware has surged by 30%, with an average of 526 new variants a day. This may speak to the impact artificial intelligence (AI) is having on the development of new malware, making it easier for threat actors to produce new variants. We have also seen significant spikes in IoT malware (107%) and encrypted threats (92%). These trends indicate threat actors are targeting more accessible attack surfaces and need to continually modify tactics to evade defensive technologies. Deploying tools for continuous monitoring and incident response, along with developing a robust incident response plan, can help mitigate and contain rising cyberattacks.
In the first five months of 2023, cyber threats put an average of 12.6% of an organization’s annual revenues at risk, on track to be around 30% annually. This is thanks to businesses enduring an average of 1,104 critical attacks during a work week. Without robust cybersecurity protection, this could have led to as many as 46 days of potential downtime. Within these attack hours, we saw the continued rise of ransomware attacks in North America and LATAM – up 15% and 51%, respectively.
By adding our Managed Security Services (MSS) offering this year, we enhanced our report to include insights into the threats affecting our MSP and managed detection and response (MDR) customers. Interestingly, 83% of the alerts received by our MSS team were related to cloud apps and compromised credentials. Therefore, augmenting cloud security with robust measures like Security Service Edge (SSE) and Zero-Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) is vital as threat actors continue to focus on cloud applications. Additionally, implementing multifactor authentication (MFA) enhances cybersecurity by requiring additional verification steps beyond passwords, significantly strengthening access controls and thwarting unauthorized entry attempts. Microsoft has previously reported that only 38% of Office 365 customers have implemented MFA.
Reviewing threat data is crucial for a company to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats and protect sensitive information. It enables the identification of vulnerabilities and the development of effective defense strategies. By analyzing threat data, companies can anticipate potential attacks and mitigate risks before they cause damage. This proactive approach enhances overall security posture and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements.
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Douglas McKee is the Executive Director of Threat Research at SonicWall, where he and his team focus on identifying, analyzing, and mitigating critical vulnerabilities through daily product content. For more information on SonicWall, please visit www.sonicwall.com, or to contact Mr. McKee directly, email dmckee@sonicwall.com
