FRESH DATA: IoT Malware Attacks Rise 217% From 2017

SonicWall has released its 2019 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, which analyzes data from over 1 million global sensors to gain insight into the state of cyber threats and attacks. The news isn’t good.

2018 data revealed a sharp rise in cyberattacks and threat tactics. The company’s Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection found 74,290 new attacks. These brand new attacks had no signature and included multiple side channel attacks.

“Cyber perpetrators are not letting up in their relentless pursuit to illegally obtain data, valuable information and intellectual property,” said Bill Conner, President and CEO, SonicWall. “We must be unyielding in this cyber arms race. Sharing vital threat information with our customers and partners provides them a tactical advantage. But it’s also important to arm those at the forefront of this battle with this intelligence, promote global awareness of the threat landscape and continue to facilitate important dialogue around today’s most prevalent cyber threats.”

See also: Malware costs jump 36% for enterprise

Key Findings

SonicWall sampled over 700 million malware attacks and found that 19.2% used non-standard ports, an increase of 8.7%. The analysis discovered threats in over 47,000 PDFs and 51,000 Office files.

• 10.52 billion malware attacks were blocked in 2018, the most ever recorded to date by SonicWall
• IoT attacks increased 217.5% in 2018
• Systems blocked more than 2.8 million encrypted malware attacks in 2018, a 27% year-over-year increase from 2017
• Ransomware attacks saw an 11% year-over-year increase
• Web app attacks increased by 56%
• 3.9 trillion intrusion attempts

Experts agree that industries and governments must work together to build secure environments and mitigate risk. This approach will build citizens’ trust in their governments and consumer trust in business. The report provided a critical analysis into various threat tactics and methods. As more organizations rely on metrics to understand and forecast risk, its creators hope that governments and enterprises will benefit from the data.