More and more attacks are targeted: cybersecurity alarm is growing

Data from the Exprivia observatory on IT security: the offensives in the software / hardware and finance sectors increased between July and September. Violations of privacy at + 40%. Among the most common practices among hackers are data theft and requests for money

12 Nov 2021 A. S.

More and more cyber attacks reach their goal. Therefore, there is not only the number of offensives launched by hackers, which in fact decreased slightly between July and September compared to the previous quarter, but rather the fact that the attacks are increasingly sophisticated and difficult to counter, and that they succeed. therefore more frequently causing damage to institutions, companies but also to private citizens. The situation is photographed by the latest Cyber Threats Report by Exprivia's Cybersecurity Observatory, according to which 273 phenomena were recorded in the third quarter of 2021, including attacks, incidents and violations of privacy. According to Exprivia data, the phenomena decreased slightly compared to the April-June period, with a -2.5%, but the techniques used by cybercriminals, in constant evolution, have resulted in 93 successful attacks out of 166 . Privacy violations are growing, with 14 cases registered and an increase of 405 compared to the previous quarter, and which have led the Guarantor to raise penalties for about seven million euros, mainly for the omission or information on the protection of personal data and for their illegal use.

“We must still keep our guard very high in defense of the network - says Domenico Raguseo (pictured above), Cybersecurity director of Exprivia - as the ratio between accidents and attacks is growing rapidly throughout Italy. Compared to the first quarter of the year, in fact, when 7% of the attacks hit, between July and September this figure reached 56%, causing increasingly serious and irreparable damage. Therefore, the analysis shows that, on the one hand, the attackers are deploying increasingly sophisticated techniques and, on the other, accidents can occur even months after the attacks, making systems vulnerable for a long time ". From the data of the Exprivia Observatory, which analyzes information from 95 public sources, in the third quarter of 2021 the sector that recorded the highest number of incidents is that of Software / Hardware, with 34 episodes: these are mainly attacks against companies Ict, of digital services, e-commerce platforms, devices and operating systems, which mainly suffer the theft of data, such as login credentials or sensitive information. In second position is the Finance sector, therefore banking institutions, insurance companies, cryptocurrency platforms, with 19 cases, where in addition to the theft of credit card data or access to bank accounts, there is an increase in requests for ransom money. Finally, fourteen attacks against the Public Administration, which mainly caused 'service interruption', i.e. the interruption of information systems to block the operation of public offices. "If on the one hand the criminals become more and more cunning by refining their techniques, on the other hand the long work of culture on cyber security, under the spotlight since the beginning of the pandemic, begins to bear fruit - explains Exprivia - 19% compared to the previous quarter the use of the phishing technique: people pay more attention to all those methods of enticement through deceptive emails or social networks. On the other hand, there is a significant increase (+ 22%) in the use of malware as an attack vector to steal sensitive information, mainly by spying on users' banking activities ".

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