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From cryptojacking to ransomware: Where next for cyber-threats?

Attacks on networks rose to a fever pitch in 2021, new data suggests.

Image: © AFP
Image: © AFP

Ransomware has increased dramatically over the last year, with attacks targeting everything from small businesses to critical infrastructure. While this should be enough to frighten the typical business manager, more may be to come. According to new research from SonicWall, ransomware is being buttressed by rising threats including encrypted threats, IoT malware, and cryptojacking.

The new data reveals a worrisome 105 percent increase in ransomware with 623.3 million attacks globally in 2021 (which stands as an unenviable record). In terms of ransomware specifics, Log4j vulnerability exploits eclipsed 142 million in six weeks.

Trends find that Apache Log4j vulnerabilities were quickly exploited, with threat actors logging 142.2 million exploit attempts between December 11, 2021 and January 31, 2022— which is an average of 2.7 million each day.

Overall, ransomware volume has increased 231 percent since 2019, with large increases in ransomware volume in 2021 across industries including government, healthcare, education and retail.

Looking at one region of the world, ransomware rose 104 percent in North America, just under the aforementioned 105 percent average increase worldwide.

The survey also finds other troubling cybersecurity trends, including over 400,000 never-before-seen malware variants. The never-before-seen malware variants increased 65 percent year-over-year.

Furthermore, while malware continued to decline in 2021, an uptick in the second half of the year suggests it could be on a resurgence. Another area of concern is with encrypted threats, which increased 167 percent year-over-year, reaching nearly 2.5 million by year’s end.

To add to this, cryptojacking attacks increased 19 percent, reaching a record 97.1 million globally. Cryptojacking is the surreptitious and unauthorized use of a computer for the resource and power-demanding requirements of cryptocurrency mining.

According to SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner: “Cyberattacks become more attractive and potentially more disastrous as dependence on information technology increases.”

The attack expert adds: “Securing information in a boundless world is a near impossible and thankless job, especially as the boundaries of organizations are ever-expanding to limitless endpoints and networks.”

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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