A new survey by cybersecurity specialist CrowdStrike Intelligence shows a marked increase in cybersecurity attacks in 2021, with an increasing threat coming from two countries: Iran and China. In total, CrowdStrike Intelligence counted 2,686 ransomware-related data leaks in 2021, an increase of 82% compared to 2020.
According to the 2022 version of CrowdStrike Intelligence’s annual Global Threat Report released in February, since late 2020, multiple Iran-based entities have massively stepped up their use of so-called “lock-and-leak” attacks to target organizations in the US, Israel, and elsewhere. In this type of attack, hackers use ransomware to target networks and then publish embarrassing or politically sensitive materials on dedicated leak sites, social media, and chat platforms.
The report also called out China and Russia…
Looking at emerging vulnerabilities, CrowdStrike predicts that the next big threat may come from malware focused on smartphones and other mobile devices as a way to gain unauthorized access to bank accounts or to collect sensitive information. And once that happens, look out: history says that once vulnerabilities are identified by one group, small breaches lead to bigger breaches as other malicious actors look to exploit new points of attack before they are closed.
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