Threat intelligence shows public sector attacks up 40%

BlackBerry’s latest quarterly Global Threat Intelligence Report highlights a 40% increase in cyber attacks targeting government agencies and the public services sector. The organisation says its AI-driven cybersecurity solutions stopped 55,000 individual attacks overall between March and May 2023.

“Governments and public services, such as public transit, electricity, water services, schools and non-profit organisations, stand as unfortunate bullseyes for cybercriminals and other threat actors, whose attacks seek to wreak maximum havoc and who oftentimes face very little resistance,” said Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research and Intelligence at BlackBerry.

“With limited resources and immature cyber defence programs, these organisations are struggling to defend against the double-pronged threat of both nation states and cybercriminals. Now, more than ever, they need access to actionable cyber intelligence to direct and strengthen their security strategies, while safeguarding the vital services, institutions and trust upon which our societies thrive.”

Other highlights include:

• Increase in cyber attacks per minute: Over the past 90 days, BlackBerry stopped over 1.5 million attacks. Threat actors deployed an average of 1.7 new malware samples per minute, a 13% increase from the previous reporting period’s average of 1.5 new samples per minute, highlighting attackers’ work to diversify their tooling to bypass defensive controls.
• Healthcare and financial services industries most targeted: In healthcare, the convergence of valuable data and critical services presents a lucrative target for cybercriminals. BlackBerry stopped over 109,922 attacks across the healthcare sector over the past 90 days. As ransomware groups continue to target organisations in these industries with information-stealing malware, the report highlights the importance of securing patient data and safeguarding the delivery of essential medical services.
• Mobile malware on the rise: Financial services institutions are facing persistent threats through smartphone-centric commodity malware, ransomware attacks and the rise of mobile banking malware targeting the growing trend of digital banking services. The report explores cybersecurity challenges for the financial sector as threat actors exploit an online-banking-first mindset.

Download the full report here.

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