SonicWall Cybersecurity Report 2024

The SonicWall Cybersecurity Report 2024, recently published by SonicWall, a prominent provider of cybersecurity intelligence and ransomware data, sheds light on the changing tactics within the cyberattack landscape. Below are the main highlights from the report, or you can access the complete SonicWall Cybersecurity Report 2024 for in-depth information.

Summary

Cyberattacks increased two to threefold across nearly every tracked metric in 2023, as threat actors continued to ramp up and diversify their attackers. To give actionable threat intelligence needed to fight against this relentless surge in cybercrime, SonicWall has compiled its research into its annual cybersecurity report.

The biggest trend observed in the 2023 cybersecurity report was acceleration. SonicWall researchers noted increased attack volumes nearly across the board.

• Malware jumped 11% year-over-year
• Encrypted threats are up by 117%
• Cryptojacking on the sharp increase at 659%

Cybersecurity Report – Top Trends

Rather than the relentless push and pull of outside forces that have been seen at work over the past several years, in 2023 threat actors stuck with tried-and-true methods.  While one would expect increasing malware attack volumes and persistent high phishing levels to be accompanied by high rates of new malware, SonicWall found the opposite to be true: Never-before-seen malware sections actually fell 38% year-over-year.

This doesn’t mean that threat actors weren’t refining their craft. SonicWall observed the emergence of Microsoft OneNote files as an initial threat vector, as well as massive campaigns targeting vulnerabilities in WinRAR and MOVEit.

The data captured continued to reflect vulnerabilities as the most common ransomware vector – and this will likely remain the case as the number of vulnerabilities continues to climb. A record 28,834 CVEs were published in 2023, a 15% increase over 2022’s numbers. In December, SonicWall’s threat researchers discovered and responsibly disclosed CVE-2023-52467, a vulnerability affecting ApachedOFBiz (a Java based web framework that enables quick prototyping of a web-based app). Large numbers of exploitation attempts have since been observed.

Other campaigns displayed a similar level of innovation. Novel phishing campaigns driving targets to highly convincing Microsoft Outlook and American Express login pages were observed, along with phishing campaigns utilising QR codes to bypass file scanning technology.

Cybercriminals took advantage of inflation and uncertain economic conditions to launch fraudulent load apps packed with spyware functionalities and credential-theft capabilities. Google scripts embedded in PDFs were weaponised to commit cryptocurrency theft, demonstrating the need for heightened vigilance even in seemingly trusted environments.

From SMB to the Enterprise, Today & Tomorrow

We’re already looking toward a future threat landscape much different from today’s, as threat actors continue adopting ChatGPT and other generative AI technology to refine phishing attempts, carry out highly convincing Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks and quickly write malicious code.

But AI also holds great promise for the world’s cybersecurity defenders. SonicWall was an early adopter of AI and machine learning with Capture ATP and RTDMI already capable of detecting many of these types of attacks. But in the coming years, we’ll begin to see the true potential of AI as a defensive tool.

What Can Your Business Do Now?

As the rising tide of the threats in the cybersecurity report shows, you can’t avoid being targeted. However, there are actions you can take to strengthen your overall cybersecurity approach:

1) Enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Enabling MFA significantly enhances authentication security – even if someone gains access to your passwords, they won’t be able to access your accounts since a second authentication is required by you, the user.

2) Patch Promptly
While zero-day vulnerabilities make headlines, most exploit attempts target vulnerabilities months or years old.

3) Conduct Regular Security Assessments
This will help you identify vulnerabilities, assess risks, and proactively strengthen defences, ensuring robust protection against evolving threats.

4) Conduct Ongoing Security Training
As technology advances, so does cybersecurity. By deploying basic training and routine practices – such as encouraging employees not to click on malicious links and training employees to identify and report potential security risks – companies can create a more educated and vigilant workforce.

5) Scan Encrypted Traffic
Experts estimate that 80-90% of all network traffic today is encrypted. But many legacy firewalls lack the capability or processing power to detect, inspect and mitigate cyberattacks sent via HTTPs traffic at all, let alone using TSL 1.3 – so threat actors routinely use encryption to deploy and execute malware.

6) Extend Your Protection to the Cloud
As companies move data and workflows to the cloud, more comprehensive and flexible approaches that include Security Service Edge (SSE) and Zero-Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) are a necessity for hybrid work environments.

Marlin Communications Is Partnered With Sonicwall

Our strategic partnership with SonicWall offers customers comprehensive security solutions that protect their businesses against cyber threats.

SonicWall’s innovative security products and Marlin Communications’ expertise in IT solutions make this partnership an ideal fit for businesses of all sizes. By working together, SonicWall and Marlin Communications help organisations stay ahead of the constantly evolving threat landscape to ensure data is safe and secure.

SonicWall Cybersecurity Report 2024

If you’d like to read the full cybersecurity report, download here or contact us for a free 15-minute consultation and find out how we can support your business with Cybersecurity. Call us on 0800 032 8274 or book a discovery call here.