Security News > 2022 > July > Ransomware less popular this year, but malware up: SonicWall cyber threat report

SonicWall has published its latest threat report, showing a drop in ransomware but an increase in malware attacks in the first half of 2022.

In an interview with The Register, SonicWall CEO Bill Conner noted that factors including the Russia and Ukraine conflict as well as the activities of law enforcement agencies had at least partially caused the drop but warned: "I think in the next six to 12 months you're going to see ransomware come back strong as the state of affairs settle into whatever this new norm is."

While 2021 was a bumper year for ransomware, malware had been slightly down Sadly for hard-pressed administrators, malware attacks have been on the increase during the start of 2022, with the company noting 2.8 billion attacks occurring during the first six months.

In North America, encrypted threats were up 284 percent and IoT malware leapt by 228 percent.

As well as the threat posed by unsecured IoT devices, sometimes not even patchable thanks to the neglect or abandonment by their manufacturers, Conner remarked that the openness of companies had changed the threat landscape.

Naturally, SonicWall is keen for people to purchase its security platforms, and Conner boasted that while the company was not fully out of the current supply chain crunch, "We've had 95 percent availability within three days" thanks in part to the hardware agnostic nature of its software.

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