Ransomware remained the standout threat in the first half of the year as cybercriminals continued to target big-name victims. Working with third parties to gain access to targeted networks, cybercriminals used Advanced Persistent Threat tools and techniques to steal and encrypt victims’ data, the report shows.
The banking industry was disproportionately affected, experiencing a 1,318% year-on-year increase in ransomware attacks in the first half of 2021. Other key findings include:
- Business email compromise (BEC) attacks increased by 4%, potentially due to new COVID-19 opportunities for threat actors.
- Cryptocurrency miners became the most detected malware, surging ahead of WannaCry and web shells in recent months.
- The Zero Day Initiative detected 770 vulnerabilities, a slight (2%) drop from 1H 2020.
- A total of 164 malicious apps related to COVID-19 scams were detected, 54% of which impersonated TikTok.
It’s interesting that TikTok accounted for 54% of the impersonation scams. I wonder if they were targeting market share or if TikTok users were more susceptible to the scams.
I found this interesting as well Matt. I think due to the large majority of users of TikTok being in the younger demographic has to do with this. Unfortunately there are a lot of young users of TikTok that may not know the difference between the legitimate app and a malicious one. It’s sad to say but that demographic is most likely easier to take advantage of.
Usually the most vulnerable and the most attacked. And TikTok users are young and populated by a youth that believes they know it all. It would be interesting to see the demographic of those that were targeted. It would help identify patterns of behavior that savvy attackers chose to take advantage of.