In six months we have been hit by 131,197 criminal acts. Our country also tops the malware rankings: first in Europe and fourth on a global scale with 28.2 million attacks. Trend Micro data 17 Sep 2021 Patrizia Licata journalist
Cybercrime continues to hit Italy, with the pandemic increasing vulnerabilities. Our country is the fourth most affected worldwide by cyber threats related to Covid-19 in the first half of 2021. The figure emerges from "Attacks from all angles: 2021 Midyear cybersecurity report" by Trend Micro Research, the division by Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, specializing in research & development and the fight against cybercrime. In this first part of the year, cybercriminals targeted Italian organizations and users and 131,197 attacks including spam emails, malware and malicious pandemic-themed sites hit our country. In the ranking of Covid-19 threats, Italy is preceded only by the United States (1,584,337), Germany (832,750) and Colombia (462,005). In the first half of 2021, Italy also tops the malware rankings and is first in Europe and fourth in the world, with 28,208,577 attacks. On the podium Japan (174.994.613) United States (163.667.075) and India (29.008.051) Cyber threats arrive via email In detail, here are the numbers on cyber threats in Italy in the first half of 2021 • Covid-19 themed threats - Italy ranks fourth in the world with 131,197 attacks including spam emails, malware and malicious sites • Malware - The total number of malware intercepted in Italy in the first half of 2021 is 28,208,577. Italy is the fourth most affected country in the world and the first in Europe • The threats arrived via e-mail were 194,879,311 • The malicious sites visited were 7,559,192 • The number of malicious apps downloaded in the first half of 2021 is 28,215 • In the first half of 2021, 1,712 unique online banking malware hit Italy Worldwide, Trend Micro blocked a total of approximately 41 billion threats (40,956,909,973) in the first half of the year, an increase of 47% over the previous period. Even on a global scale, most attacks have come via email.
Criminals on the hunt for money and data: rule ransomware
Worldwide, ransomware remains the main threat, with cybercriminals continuing to target the most famous companies. The most common attack pattern saw cooperation with third parties to gain access to targeted networks with the aim of stealing and encrypting the victims' data. Other cyber threats that have seen major numbers are compromised business email scams and cryptocurrency malware. The Zero Day Initiative has intercepted 770 vulnerabilities. Italian health under attack The annual dossier (HERE IS THE FULL DOSSIER) of the National Committee for Public Order and Safety (Cnosp), published in August, revealed that in Italy hacker attacks have increased tenfold in one year, rising from 460 registered between 1 August 2019 and July 31, 2020 to the 4,938 certified as of August 1, 2021. Previous research by Trend Micro Research has shown how Covid-19 has multiplied criminal actions: in 2020 the sector most targeted in Italy for the amount of unique malware and ransomware was that of healthcare, followed by banking and PA. In 2020, 20,777 unique malware and 2,063 unique ransomware hit Italian healthcare facilities. A sector already under pressure due to the criticality and sensitivity of the data stored and which has had to deal with a situation made even more difficult by the pandemic.
THE REPORT Covid, the "correlated" effects on Italian health: it is the most targeted by hackers 26 Jul 2021
• THE RANKING Malware, Italy is the third most affected country in the world 31 May 2021
• CYBERCRIME A malware on Whatsapp "disguised" as Netflix: 2 months free, but it is a trap 07 Apr 2021
• THE REPORT Italy "scourged" by macro-malware: first country in Europe, fifth in the world 18 Mar 2021
A malware on Whatsapp "disguised" as Netflix: 2 months free, but it is a trap
COVID-ARTICLE-ATTACKS