A recent report revealed that there was a 40% increase in cyber attacks targeting government agencies and the public services sector, according to the quarterly Global Threat Intelligence BlackBerry Limited report.
According to GSM India, he said Ismail Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat and Intelligence Research at BlackBerry:“Governments and public services, such as public transportation, electricity, water services, schools, and nonprofit organizations, are unfortunately bullies for cyber criminals and other threat actors whose attacks seek the greatest amount of destruction and who often face very little resistance.”
“With limited resources and immature cyber defense programs, these organizations struggle to defend against the dual-public threat to both nation states and cyber criminals, now more than ever, they need access to actionable cyber intelligence to guide and enhance their security strategies, while protecting the vital services, organizations, and trust that our communities thrive.”
The report sees an increase in cyberattacks per minute, and over the past 90 days, BlackBerry has stopped more than 1.5 million attacks and threat actors deployed an average of 1.7 new malware samples per minute, an increase of 13 percent over the previous average reporting period of 1.5 new samples per minute, highlighting attackers’ work to diversify their tools to bypass defensive controls.
The report alleged that healthcare and financial services sectors are the most targeted, and in healthcare, the convergence of valuable data and critical services is a lucrative target for cyber criminals, with ransomware groups continuing to target organizations in these industries with malware to steal information, the report highlights the importance of securing patient data and protecting the delivery of essential medical services.
As the report warns against increased malware for mobile devices, the report said: “Financial services organizations face ongoing threats through smartphone-focused commodity malware, ransomware attacks, and the rise of mobile banking malware targeting the growing trend of digital banking.”
