Report Finds Big Increase in Cyber Attacks, Reveals 5 Top Methods

TechRepublic.com cites a recent report from a security company that suggests cyber attacks continue to increase in occurrence. The report, from Positive Technologies, says that the second quarter of 2018 saw a 47% increase in cyber attacks when compared to the same period in 2017. Targeted attacks outnumbered mass campaigns, which indicates a growing sophistication among the cybercrooks.

Increasingly, data theft is driving the attacks, with many criminals seeking personal data (30%), credentials (22%), and payment card information (15%). Hackers are compromising online platforms, e-commerce sites, online ticketing systems, and hotel booking sites, according to the report.

“Cyber-attacks in Q2 victimized 765 million ordinary users to the tune of tens of millions of dollars,” says Leigh-Anne Galloway of Positive Technologies. “Today, you can never be sure that criminals don’t have your credit card number from one source or another. Even when you buy a brand-new smartphone in a store, you can still end up getting pre-installed malware.”

The report lists the five most popular cyberattack methods criminals used in the second quarter of 2018:

1. Malware (49%)
2. Social engineering (25%)
3. Hacking (21%)
4. Credential compromise (19%)
5. Web attacks (18%)