A new threat intelligence report from cybersecurity firm SonicWall has revealed a marked increase in cyber attacks in May 2018 compared to data a year ago during the same month.
Security researchers at SonicWall Capture Labs has observed over 2 million malware attacks through May 2018, a 64% increase year-over-year, new data has revealed. A staggering 9 million ransomware attacks were recorded globally during the same period, a 78% increase. Further, nearly 240,000 encrypted threats were also cataloged.
Year-to-date statistics reveal a staggering 5 billion malware attacks this year until May, a spike of 128% compared to last year. Ransomware attacks have particularly soared and are up 299% compared to last year.
In May 2018 alone, an average client faced 2,302 malware attacks, 62 ransomware attacks, 94 encrypted threats over the course of the month. On a daily basis, a client sees over 14 phishing attacks according to data.
Encrypted threats have notably more than doubled since last year, suggesting that cybercriminals are quickly understanding the efficacy of encrypting their traffic before triggering cyber attacks.
“As the cyber war continues between threat actors and security professionals, arming your organization with the latest cyber threat intelligence is critical to implementing or improving a sound security posture,” SonicWall’s director of marketing content Geoff Blaine wrote. “As long as vulnerabilities exist, there are threat actors working to exploit them.”
Image credit: LIFARS archive.
