65 percent more cyber attacks in Switzerland
Compared to 2020, there were 65 percent more cyber attacks in Switzerland in 2021. Germany's neighbors were also heavily attacked. Worldwide, attacks against corporate networks increased by 50 percent. This is shown in an evaluation by the IT security specialists at Check Point.
Security researchers at Check Point Research (CPR), the research division of Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. have published the latest annual comparison of cyber attacks. The basis for the evaluation is the company's own ThreatCloud, which is networked worldwide. This cloud collects global cyber attack data, which is then analyzed to ensure that all Check Point products are updated with the latest protection measures. The research team consists of more than 100 analysts and researchers who collaborate with other security vendors, law enforcement and various CERTs.
Healthcare providers under constant fire
The latest figures from 2021 show: Everywhere, the number of attacks on corporate networks increased sharply. In Switzerland by 65 percent, in Germany by 62 percent and in Austria by 117 percent. In terms of industries, healthcare providers in Switzerland were under constant fire and saw a 107 percent increase compared to 2020, followed by finance/banking at 98 percent and government/military at 86 percent. Europe as a region saw an increase of 68 percent of all virtual attacks - in percentage terms, this is the strongest compared to other areas, even though Europe and North America are still relatively "safe" in terms of absolute numbers.
Log4J vulnerability caused cyber attack attempts to increase
Security researchers saw a late peak in December because of the Log4J vulnerability, which affects nearly every system in the world. According to Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point, "The number of cyber attacks peaked towards the end of the year, largely due to attempts to exploit the Log4J vulnerability. New penetration techniques and workarounds have made it much easier for hackers to carry out malicious intent. Particularly troubling is that some important sectors of society are high on the list of those most frequently attacked. Education, government and healthcare made it into the top 5 globally."
"We are in a cyber pandemic".
The number of cyber attacks will not decrease, Omer Dembinsky is convinced of that. And he chooses drastic words: "I expect all these numbers to increase in 2022, as hackers will seek new methods to carry out attacks, especially ransomware attacks. We are thus in a cyber pandemic, if you will. I recommend that the public, especially in the education, government and healthcare sectors, familiarize themselves with the basics of protecting themselves with IT. Various measures, such as applying patches, segmenting networks and training employees, can already make networks much more secure."
Source: Check Point
