Security News > 2023 > February > IBM: Most ransomware blocked last year, but cyberattacks are moving faster

The IBM report noted that ransomware declined 4 percentage points between 2021 and 2022, and defenders were more successful at detecting and preventing those attacks.

Cyberattackers have gotten much faster at infiltrating perimeters, with the average time to complete a ransomware attack dropping from two months to less than four days.

SEE: Recognize the commonalities in ransomware attacks to avoid them.

X-Force observed threat actors selling existing backdoor access for as much as $10,000, compared to stolen credit card data, which can sell for less than $10. Hendley said the fact that nearly 70% of backdoor attacks failed - thanks to defenders disrupting the backdoor before ransomware was deployed - shows that the shift toward detection and response is paying off.

The IBM study cited various notable trends, which include suggesting that political unrest in Europe is driving attacks on industry there, and attackers everywhere are increasing efforts to use email threads as an attack surface.

Thread hijacking: Subterfuge of email threads doubled last year, with attackers using compromised email accounts to reply within ongoing conversations posing as the original participant.

News URL

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ibm-ransomware-blocked-last-year-cyberattacks-moving-faster/