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SINGAPORE –\u00a0Media OutReach<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a016 August 2021 –\u00a0<\/b>In the first half of 2021, ransomware
With high-profile attacks against
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“In a year driven
After posting
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The top five
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“The continued
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In line with spikes in global
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In the fight against known
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RTDMI technology blocks more
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In its most recent test
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“Third-party validation
Malware continues to fall, non-standard
Last year, SonicWall recorded
Malware attacks via
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Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President, Regional
After having made an
IoT vector continues to serve threats<\/b><\/p>\n
Last year, employees packed
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SonicWall Capture Labs threat
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To download the full mid-year
\nattacks skyrocketed, eclipsing the entire volume for 2020 in only six months,
\naccording to the mid-year
\nupdate to the 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report<\/a>
\npublished today. In a new paradigm for cybercrime, SonicWall<\/a> is analyzing how
\nthreat actors are using any means possible to further their malicious intents.<\/p>\n
\nestablished technology and infrastructure, ransomware is now more prevalent
\nthan ever. Through the first half of 2021, SonicWall recorded global ransomware
\nvolume of 304.7 million, surpassing 2020’s full-year total (304.6 million) \u2014 a
\n151% year-to-date increase.<\/p>\n
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\nby anxiety and uncertainty, cybercriminals have continued to accelerate attacks
\nagainst innocent people and vulnerable institutions,” said SonicWall President
\nand CEO Bill Conner. “This latest data shows that sophisticated threat actors
\nare tirelessly adapting their tactics and embracing ransomware to reap
\nfinancial gain and sow discord. With remote working still widespread,
\nbusinesses continue to be highly exposed to risk, and criminals are acutely
\naware of uncertainty across the cyber landscape. It’s crucial that
\norganizations move toward a modern Boundless Cybersecurity approach to protect
\nagainst both known and unknown threats, particularly when everyone is more
\nremote, more mobile and less secure than ever.”<\/p>\n
\nRansomware running <\/b>rampant<\/b><\/p>\n
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\nrecord highs in both April and May, SonicWall recorded another new high of 78.4
\nmillion ransomware attacks in June 2021 alone. Ransomware volume showed massive
\nyear-to-date spikes in the U.S. (185%) and the U.K. (144%). Accounting for 64%
\nof all recorded ransomware attacks, Ryuk, Cerber and SamSam were the top three
\nransomware families in the first half of the year, as recorded by SonicWall
\nCapture Labs.<\/p>\n
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\nregions most impacted by ransomware in the first half of 2021 were the United
\nStates, United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa and Brazil. Across the U.S., the
\nfive hardest-hit states were Florida (111.1 million), New York (26.4 million),
\nIdaho (20.5 million), Louisiana (8.8 million) and Rhode Island (8.8 million).<\/p>\n
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\nrise of ransomware, cryptojacking and other unique forms of malware targeted at
\nmonetization, along with their evolution of tactics, are evidence that
\ncybercriminal activity always follows the money and rapidly adapts to new
\nopportunities and changing environments,” said
\nSonicWall Vice President of Platform Architecture Dmitriy Ayrapetov.<\/p>\n
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\ndata, SonicWall Capture Labs threat researchers also recorded alarming
\nransomware spikes across key verticals, including government (917%), education
\n(615%), healthcare (594%) and retail (264%) organizations.<\/p>\n
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Patented RTDMI<\/b> finding,
\nblocking more never-seen-before variants than ever<\/b><\/p>\n
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\nand unknown threats, SonicWall’s patented Real-Time Deep Memory InspectionTM<\/sup>
\n(RTDMI) identified record numbers of never-before-seen malware, posting a 54%
\nyear-to-date increase over the first half of 2020.<\/p>\n
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\nadvanced and unknown malware compared to traditional behavior-based sandboxing
\nmethods, and with a lower false-positive rate. This can be seen in the latest ICSA Labs Advanced Threat Defense (ATD) Q2 test
\nresults<\/a>, where the SonicWall Capture
\nAdvanced Threat Protection (ATP) service with RTDMI detected 100% of previously
\nunknown threats with zero false positives across 33 consecutive days of
\ntesting.<\/p>\n
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\nadministered in the second quarter of 2021, ICSA conducted a total of 1,144
\ntests against Capture ATP, with a mixture of 544 new and little-known malicious
\nsamples and 600 innocuous applications. Capture ATP correctly identified 100%
\nof malicious samples while allowing all clean samples through. It was the sixth
\nconsecutive ICSA ATD certification for Capture ATP, and second ‘perfect score’
\nin as many quarters.<\/p>\n
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\nis hard earned, particularly in today’s fast-moving threat landscape,”
\nsaid SonicWall Vice President of Software Engineering & Threat Research
\nAlex Dubrovsky. “Consecutive perfect certifications is a testament to the
\nSonicWall team and our continued quest to arm organizations with intelligence and technology that help protect
\nthem from the most dangerous cyber threats.”<\/p>\n
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\nport attacks down<\/b><\/p>\n
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\na drop in global malware attacks, a trend that continued in the first half of
\n2021 with a 24% drop in malware volume worldwide. As threat actors become more
\nsophisticated \u2014 using ransomware, cryptojacking and other types of cyberattacks
\nto launch surgical strikes \u2014 the need for “spray-and-pray” malware attempts have
\nlessened, decreasing overall volume. <\/p>\n
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\nnon-standard ports also fell in 2021 after hitting record highs in 2020. These
\nattacks, which aim to increase payloads by bypassing traditional firewall
\ntechnologies, represent 14% of all malware attempts in the first half of 2021,
\ndown from 24% year to date.<\/p>\n
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\nSales APAC adds “The pandemic drove the effectiveness and volume of
\ncyberattacks to historic highs. Remote workforces, a charged political climate,
\nrecord prices of cryptocurrency, and threat actors weaponizing cloud storage
\nand tools created new and numerous attack vectors on targets. Threats that were
\nonce thought to be two or three years away are now a reality with
\ndo-it-yourself, cloud-based tools creating an army of cybercriminals armed with
\nthe same devastating force and impact of a nation-state or larger criminal
\nenterprise.” He continues “It’s imperative the IT industry stay ahead of these
\nmounting threats, strengthen relationships between private and government
\nsectors, and formulate more coordinated efforts to swiftly share threat
\nintelligence and act upon it.”
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\nCryptojacking malware remains a concern<\/b><\/p>\n
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\nunexpected revival in 2020, cryptojacking malware continued to climb through
\nthe first half of 2021 as cryptocurrency prices remain high. From January to
\nJune, SonicWall threat researchers recorded 51.1 million cryptojacking
\nattempts, representing a 23% increase over the same six-month period last year.<\/p>\n
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\nEurope was particularly ravaged, recording a 248% year-to-date rise in
\ncryptojacking malware. This increase highlights the volatile shifts of a market
\ncybercriminals have come to leverage due to their high desire for online
\nanonymity when it comes to lucrative payouts.<\/p>\n
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\ntheir belongings and went home in droves, introducing millions of new devices
\nto the network and millions of openings for cybercrime. This year, Internet of
\nThings (IoT) malware attacks have continued to increase, rising 59%
\nyear-to-date globally, a trend stemming back to 2018.<\/p>\n
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\nWhile the U.S. saw a slightly smaller 15% year-to-date increase in IoT malware,
\nEurope and Asia also saw alarming rises of 113% and 190%, respectively, in IoT
\nmalware volume.<\/p>\n
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\nresearchers collect and analyze threat intelligence data from 1.1 million
\nsensors in over 215 countries and territories. This includes cross-vector,
\nthreat-related information shared among SonicWall security systems, including
\nfirewalls, email security devices, endpoint security solutions, honeypots,
\ncontent filtering systems and the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection
\n(ATP) multi-engine sandbox; SonicWall internal malware analysis automation
\nframework; malware and IP reputation data from tens of thousands of firewalls
\nand email security devices around the globe; and shared threat intelligence
\nfrom more than 50 industry collaboration groups and research organizations.<\/p>\n
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\nupdate of the 2021 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, please visit www.sonicwall.com\/threatreport<\/a>.<\/p>\n