SonicWall report reveals 30% rise in global cyberattacks
SonicWall, a cybersecurity firm, has published its Mid-Year Threat Report for 2024, produced by SonicWall Capture Labs.
The report reveals a significant rise in cyberattacks globally, noting that existing vulnerabilities continue to pose a major risk, particularly to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited resources.
According to the report, SonicWall intelligence observed an average of 50 hours of critical attacks on its firewalls within a typical 40-hour work week, equating to 125% of work hours. This illustrates the relentless nature of cyber threats that businesses are facing.
Through the analysis, the report estimates that at least 12.6% of an organisation's annual revenue is at risk due to cyber threats without adequate protection. Contextually, for a company with annual revenue of USD $10 million, approximately USD $1.2 million is vulnerable to potential cyberattacks.
The report's year-over-year data highlights a 30% increase in global malware volume, with a notable 92% increase in May 2024 alone.
In the UK, Internet of Things (IoT) malware attacks surged by 123%, leaving affected devices under attack for an average of 52.8 hours. Furthermore, encrypted threats have risen by 92%, demonstrating the enhanced sophistication of cybercriminals and the utilisation of advanced tools such as artificial intelligence (AI).
“As threat actors continue to add more efficient and sophisticated tactics, we knew the threat report had to evolve to suit our partners and customers needs,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bob VanKirk. “The report is current and includes timely trends and provides our partners, MSPs, MSSPs and customers with actionable intelligence to help them create and implement strategies to help their customers combat these threats whether new or old.”
Part of the report's findings emphasised that companies endured, on average, 1,104 hours of critical attacks during a span of 880 working hours. SonicWall claimed that effective protection measures saved businesses from a potential 46 days of downtime in the first five months of 2024, safeguarding 12.6% of their total revenues.
“The data and examples found in the report provide real-life examples of how crafty and swift malicious actors operate, underscoring that traditional cybersecurity defences often prove to be the most reliable,” commented SonicWall Executive Director of Threat Research Douglas McKee. “Data is not just a resource; it’s our frontline defence against cybercrime, revealing critical insights that inform allocation of resources and enable targeted and proactive cybersecurity measures.”
The SonicWall Mid-Year Threat Report for 2024 sheds light on various threats, including a 30% rise in overall global malware volume in the first half of the year. Additionally, ransomware incidents increased by 15% in North America and 51% in Latin America, despite a 49% decrease in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. IoT malware attacks increased by 107%, with affected devices averaging 52.8 hours under attack. Conversely, cryptojacking dropped by 60%, although India witnessed a substantial 409% increase.
“The threat landscape is completely overwhelming for organisations and the teams who defend them,” said SonicWall Partner and Fornida COO Steven Huang. “Most cybersecurity breaches include some degree of human error. Ultimately, there are two ways to battle this; reducing opportunity and educating users. The fewer opportunities there are for an error, the less users will be tested. And the more knowledge they have, the less likely they are to make a mistake even when they face an opportunity to do so.”
SonicWall's patented Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection technology identified 78,923 new malware variants in the first five months of 2024, averaging 526 new strains per day. This points to the complexity and evolving nature of the threat landscape, further underscoring the importance of robust cybersecurity measures.
