Check Point Reveals 42% Global Increase in Cyber Attacks

Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point Software, has released its ‘Cyber Attack Trends: 2022 Mid-Year Report’ highlighting how cyberattacks have become firmly entrenched as a state-level weapon, including the new ransomware method of ‘Country Extortion’ and state-affiliated hacktivism, and the expansion of ransomware as the number one threat. The report also delves into the growth of cloud supply chain attacks through new sources of modules in the open-source community.

“The war in Ukraine has dominated the headlines in the first half of 2022 and we can only hope that it will be brought to a peaceful conclusion soon,” said Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software. “Its impact on the cyber space has been dramatic in both scope and scale, and we have seen huge increases in cyberattacks against organizations in all sectors and all countries this year. Unfortunately, this will only get worse especially with ransomware now being the number one threat to organizations. However, with the right expertise, strategy and cybersecurity solutions in place, companies are able to prevent attacks from happening.”

Among the highlights of the report, ransomware is expected to become a much more fragmented ecosystem – while ransomware groups have become more structured and operate like regular businesses, with set targets to hit, there will be a lesson learned from the Conti ransomware group, whose size and power garnered too much attention, which led to its downfall.

Due to the implementation of internet macros being blocked by default in Microsoft office, the more sophisticated malware families are likely to accelerate the development of new infection chains, with different file types that are password protected to prevent detection as sophisticated social engineering attacks increase.

Meanwhile, hacktivist groups will continue to align their attacks with the agenda of their chosen nation state, particularly as the Russia-Ukraine war is still ongoing.

The findings are based on data drawn from Check Point Software’s ThreatCloud Intelligence between January and June 2022, highlighting the key tactics cyber-criminals are using to attack businesses.

Channel Impact^®
The report presents an integrated view of how cyberattacks have led to major disruption, causing harm to civic and cyber life in 2022.