INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security

The semi-annual report reveals a continuous evolution of tactical behaviors of digital cybercriminals as they opt for different types of malicious attacks compared to previous years .

Similarly , more than eight million IoT attacks were recorded in the region ; an increase of 164 % ( 3,232,664 ) over the same period last year .

This translates into a greater interest on the part of cybercriminals in carrying out sensitive and more widespread attacks towards everyday elements of home and office automation – which have been experiencing an increase in their adoption .

Overall , intrusion attempts increased , as cybercriminals abandoned traditional ransomware attacks in favor of a more cautious means of malicious activity .

Cyberattackers see more and better opportunities by entering fertile ground for the theft of data and personal and financial information of consumers of this type of technology .

The data suggests that increased control through anti-cybercrime regulations , heavy penalties and victims ’ refusal to pay demanded ransoms have altered criminal behavior and focused threats on other sources of income .

Despite the 77 % reduction in the number of ransomware attacks in the region , from 28 million to more than 6 million , in the same period between 2022 and 2023 , countries such as Mexico have been the most affected , being in sixth place worldwide of countries with the highest number of ransomware attacks , surpassed only by the United States , Germany , UK , Austria and Spain .

However , attempts to intrude personal and business machines in Latin America increased by 14 %.

This is because hackers find weak entry points , collaborators with little protection on their work and personal devices and little training to deal with eventual attacks .

Cybercriminals use increasingly advanced tools and tactics to exploit and extort money from victims .

Although ransomware remains a threat , threat researchers at SonicWall Capture Labs foresee more state-sponsored activity targeting a broader set of victims in 2023 , including SMBs , government entities and large enterprises .

The 2023 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report Mid-Year Update provides insight into a variety of cyberthreats , including :

• Malware – Malware in Latin America jumped (+ 19 %), suggesting a geographic migration of cyberattackers ’ behavior as they shift from targeting traditional hotspots to more opportunistic locations

• Ransomware – Although global ransomware figures saw a decline of – 41 %, the second quarter suggests a possible uptick as it increased by 73.7 % compared to the first

• IoT Malware – Global volume increased by 37 %, totaling nearly 78 million attacks at the end of June

• Encrypted threats – Another more cautious approach taken by cybercriminals over the past six months was encrypted threats , which increased (+ 22 %) globally .

SonicWall ’ s Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection ( RTDMI ) identified a total of 172,146 never-before-seen malware variants in the first half of 2023 , representing a decrease (– 36 %) year-over-year .

This suggests cybercriminals spend less time on research and development and more time on volume-based attacks , using opensource tools that are less likely to be intercepted .

In addition , threat actors seem to take advantage of existing tools , relying on those of proven success . p

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