Check Point reports 38% increase in global cyber attacks
The most targeted industry was healthcare, followed by education and government. The US experienced a 57% rise in arracks. And what should we expect from 2023?
Mandi Kogosowski
| 09/01/2023
Illustration. BIGSTOCK: Copyright: Smile Studio AP
Global cyberattacks increased by 38% in 2022, compared to 2021, according to a new report released by Check Point Research (CPR).
“The augmented numbers were driven by smaller, more agile hacker and ransomware gangs, who focused on exploiting collaboration tools used in work-from-home environments, targeting of education institutions that shifted to e-learning post COVID-19,” say the researchers.
Another reason for this sharp rise is due to growing hacker interest in healthcare organizations, which saw the largest increase in cyberattacks in 2022, when compared to all other industries, according to the research.
In 2021, over 50 million patient records were compromised in the US, with 905 incidents reported, says Protenus’ 2022 Breach Barometer.
Besides the healthcare industry, the most attacked sectors in 2022 were education/research and government, according to the CPR report. The global volume of cyberattacks reached an all-time high in Q4, with an average of 1168 weekly attacks per organization.
While Africa experienced the highest volume of attacks, with weekly average of 1875 breaches or attempted breaches, North America (+52%), Latin America (+29%) and Europe (+26%) showed the largest increases in attacks in 2022, compared to 2021. The US experienced a 57% increase in cyberattacks, while the numbers soared to 77% in the UK.
Check Point’s cybersecurity experts are not optimistic about 2023, predicting another increase, also due to AI technologies such as ChatGPT which, as they are readily available, enable threat actors to generate malicious code faster and easier.
*Check Point will participate in the Cybertech Global Tel Aviv conference, scheduled to take place between January 31st-February 1st, 2023. For additional information and to sign up, please visit https://www.cybertechisrael.com/
The most targeted industry was healthcare, followed by education and government. The US experienced a 57% rise in arracks. And what should we expect from 2023?
Illustration. BIGSTOCK: Copyright: Smile Studio AP
Global cyberattacks increased by 38% in 2022, compared to 2021, according to a new report released by Check Point Research (CPR).
“The augmented numbers were driven by smaller, more agile hacker and ransomware gangs, who focused on exploiting collaboration tools used in work-from-home environments, targeting of education institutions that shifted to e-learning post COVID-19,” say the researchers.
Another reason for this sharp rise is due to growing hacker interest in healthcare organizations, which saw the largest increase in cyberattacks in 2022, when compared to all other industries, according to the research.
In 2021, over 50 million patient records were compromised in the US, with 905 incidents reported, says Protenus’ 2022 Breach Barometer.
Besides the healthcare industry, the most attacked sectors in 2022 were education/research and government, according to the CPR report. The global volume of cyberattacks reached an all-time high in Q4, with an average of 1168 weekly attacks per organization.
While Africa experienced the highest volume of attacks, with weekly average of 1875 breaches or attempted breaches, North America (+52%), Latin America (+29%) and Europe (+26%) showed the largest increases in attacks in 2022, compared to 2021. The US experienced a 57% increase in cyberattacks, while the numbers soared to 77% in the UK.
Check Point’s cybersecurity experts are not optimistic about 2023, predicting another increase, also due to AI technologies such as ChatGPT which, as they are readily available, enable threat actors to generate malicious code faster and easier.
*Check Point will participate in the Cybertech Global Tel Aviv conference, scheduled to take place between January 31st-February 1st, 2023. For additional information and to sign up, please visit https://www.cybertechisrael.com/
