IBM releases its X-Force Intelligence Threat Index report. Europe proved to be just short of being the main target for cyber attackers, only Asia was hit more often. Attackers mostly targeted the retail and manufacturing industries, with 23.2 percent of attacks targeting them. In 2020, that percentage was still at 17.7 percent.
26 percent of attacks on the manufacturing industry targeted European companies, according to a new report from IBM. These attacks were mainly concentrated in the Benelux region. According to researchers at IBM, the high number of ransomware attacks has its origins in the high degree of digitalization in the Benelux region.
Maxwell Keyte, Security Leader for the Benelux at IBM, is positive about the cyber security of companies in the manufacturing industry in the Benelux. According to him, cyber security is at the top of the priority list there, so security is supported by everyone in the organization.
“More organizations in the Benelux are adopting a zero-trust strategy. That is complemented in most companies by a response plan, which outlines what an organization should do after an attack,” Keyte says.
Exploits grant criminals access
Cyber attacks against European businesses in 2021 led primarily to ransomware. An affected company was found to have faced that in 26 percent of cases, followed by server access (12%) and data theft (10%).
To deploy these attack tactics, a cybercriminal must first find an entry into a company’s network. Among European companies, exploits were misused in most cases for this purpose (46%). In many cases, an update exists to plug the leak. Allen companies do not install these updates or install them too late.
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Cybercriminals targeted retail and manufacturing industries in 2021
In addition, employees appear to play a major role in granting access. As many as 42 percent of attacks on European companies came about through phishing.
Overall, Europe ranked second most affected continents in the world. Yet there was a drop in the number of cyber attacks against European companies. In 2021, 26 percent of attacks centered on our continent, and that figure was still at 31 percent in 2020.