International. SonicWall has released the 2024 Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report, which reveals another increase in overall attacks, after seeing an 11% increase in 2023.
The report details the evolving threat landscape during the first five months of this year, highlighting the persistent, relentless and increasing nature of cyber threats globally.
This report has been developed with SonicWall channels in mind and, like SonicWall itself, has undergone a significant transformation. The report has evolved in how it measures critical cyber threat data, including time as a factor. It also highlights the latest trends that are impacting channels and customers, and for the first time, the report links attacks to tangible impact on business, including potential revenue risk.
"As threat actors continue to add more efficient and sophisticated tactics, we knew that cyber threat reporting had to evolve to meet the needs of our channels and customers," said Bob VanKirk, president and CEO of SonicWall. "The report is current and includes timely trends, providing our channels, MSPs, MSSPs and customers with actionable intelligence to help them create and implement strategies that enable them to combat these threats, whether new or old."
Increased attacks
SonicWall intelligence found that, on average, companies were under critical attack for 1,104 hours out of 880 hours. This means that customers were protected from a potential 46 days of business downtime in the first five months of 2024 alone, protecting 12.6% of total revenue and defending against potentially devastating intrusions.
"The data and examples found in the report provide real-world examples of how malicious actors operate shrewdly and quickly, underscoring that traditional cybersecurity defenses often turn out to be the most reliable," said SonicWall, executive director of Threat Research. "Data is not just a resource; They are our first line of defense against cybercrime, revealing critical insights that inform resource allocation and enable proactive and targeted cybersecurity measures."
SonicWall's 2024 Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report provides insights into a range of threats, including:
- The total volume of global malware increased by 30% in the first half of 2024, with a massive increase of 92% in May alone.
- Ransomware is on the rise with a +15% increase in NOAM and an astounding +51% in LATAM, but EMEA is reducing the global numbers, recording a -49% decrease.
- IoT attacks increased by 107%, with affected devices averaging 52.8 hours under attack. In addition, 15% of all malware now uses software packaging as its primary TTP MITRE.
- After a record year, cryptojacking fell by 60%. Most of the world saw a decline, with the exception of India, which saw a staggering 409% increase.
"Today, organizations face a dynamic threat landscape where threat actors are continuously innovating to overcome enterprise defenses," said Juan Alejandro Aguirre, director of Latin America engineering solutions for SonicWall.
"With cyber risks dominating headlines and boardroom discussions globally, the mid-year update of the 2024 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report solidifies our position as a trusted authority, reinforcing our ability to deliver robust security solutions to our valued customers. Implementing tools for real-time threat detection and developing a robust incident response plan can help mitigate and contain cyberattacks quickly. Consider using an MDR service to add a human layer as well as 24/7 threat detection," he added.
Malware variants discovered
SonicWall's proprietary Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection™ (RTDMITM) technology identified a total of 78,923 never-before-seen malware variants in the first five months of 2024. The threat landscape remains complex, with more than 500 strains of new variants discovered every day.
