Cryptomining impacted 37% organisations worldwide in 2018
Bangkok: While ransomware attacks declined in 2018, cryptominers dominated the malware landscape and impacted 37 per cent organisations worldwide, Israel-based cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point Software Technologies said in a report here on Tuesday.
According to “Check Point’s 2019 Security Report”, despite a fall in the value of all cryptocurrencies, 20 per cent of the companies continued to be hit by cryptomining attacks every week.
In 2018, cryptominers occupied the types of top four most prevalent malware.
On the other hand, ransomware usage fell sharply in 2018, impacting just 4 per cent of organisations globally.
“From the meteoric rise in cryptomining to massive data breaches and DDoS attacks, there was no shortage of cyber-disruption caused to global organisations over the past year,” Peter Alexander, Chief Marketing Officer of Check Point Software Technologies, said in a statement.
“These multi-vector, fast-moving, large-scale ‘Gen V’ attacks are becoming more and more frequent, and organisations need to adopt a multi-layered cybersecurity strategy that prevents these attacks from taking hold of their networks and data.
“The 2019 Security Report offers knowledge, insights and recommendations on how to prevent these attacks,” he added.
The report examines the latest emerging threats against various industry sectors, and gives a comprehensive overview of the trends observed in the malware landscape, in emerging data breach vectors, and in nation-state cyber-attacks.
Mobiles were found as a moving target. Over 30 per cent of organisations worldwide were hit by mobile malware, with the leading three malware types targeting the Android OS.
2018 saw several cases where mobile malware was pre-installed on devices, and apps available from app stores that were actually malware in disguise, the report said.
Bots were the third most common malware type, with 18 per cent of organisations hit by bots which are used to launch DDoS attacks and spread other malware. Bot infections were instrumental in nearly half (49 per cent) of organisations experiencing a DDoS attack in 2018.
The report is based on data from Check Point’s ThreatCloud intelligence — a collaborative network for fighting cybercrime which delivers threat data and attack trends from a global network of threat sensors — over the last 12 months.
It is also based on a new survey of IT professionals and C-level executives that assesses their preparedness for today’s threats.