Cyber threats conveyed through e-mails in 2021 were 33.6 million, with a 101% increase over the previous year. The figure emerges from Cloud App Security Threat Report 2021, the latest Trend Micro study, a global leader in cybersecurity, which demonstrates how e-mail remains one of the main access points for cyber attacks. Trend Micro data was collected during 2021 through products that integrate automated protection into collaboration platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. The data shows that during the year there were: 16.5 million phishing attacks detected and blocked, up by 138%, largely due to the fact that hybrid ways of working continue to be a weak point for security; 16.5 million phishing attacks detected and blocked, an increase of 138%, largely due to the fact that hybrid ways of working continue to be a security weakness; 3.3 million malicious files detected, which includes a 134% increase in known threats and 221% in unknown malware
Ransomware detections appear to be decreasing year-over-year. This could be due to the fact that the attacks are becoming more and more targeted, but also to the success of several mass operations conducted by Trend Micro which blocked ransomware tools such as “Trickbot” and “BazarLoader”. Generic Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) scams also fell by 11%, but if you go through sophisticated checks like Trend Micro writing style analysis algorithms, you actually find an 83% increase. The data indicates that these scams are becoming more and more elaborate and complex to block. “Every year we see changes in the cyber threat landscape and an extension of the corporate attack surface, but e-mail remains one of the main attack targets,” said Alessandro Fontana, Head of Sales at Trend Micro Italia. “The best defense is to adopt a platform-based approach, to address threats through simplified and natively connected prevention, detection and response systems that can automate data correlation ensuring visibility and control of your infrastructure”.
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