Page 14 - EngineerIT January 2022

ICT – CYBER SECURITY

Cyberattacks increased by 50% with

Africa the most targeted region

ast year, the number of cyberattacks
recorded was record-breaking,
Lwith a 50% increase in overall
attacks per week on corporate networks
compared to 2020. In fact, in 2021, the
world witnessed one of the most serious
vulnerabilities on the internet, with
millions of attacks per hour attempting to
exploit the Log4J vulnerability in what’s
been dubbed a cyberattack pandemic.
In October, Check Point Research
reported a 40% increase in cyberattacks,
with one out of every 61 organisations
worldwide impacted by ransomware
each week. By Q4, the upwards global
trend continued, as figure 1 shows,
reaching an all-time peak by December,
with 925 cyberattacks reported per
organisation every week.

Africa most targeted region Figure 1
Africa experienced the highest volume
of attacks in 2021 across five surveyed sectors surveyed per figure 3, government/military was the second most targeted, followed
regions, as figure 2 highlights. Across by communications, seeing a 47% and 51% increase respectively in weekly attacks per
the continent, an organisation had organisation in these sectors.
to contend with an average of 1 582
cyberattacks per week, which is a 13% 6 strategies to boost cybersecurity in 2022
increase from 2020. The increase recorded last year in Gen V attacks – a combination of a wide breadth of
The APAC region suffered the second- threats, large scale attacks, and a broad attack surface – is alarming. Such attacks are
highest volume of cyberattacks last
year, with an average of 1 353 weekly
attacks per organisation, followed by
Latin America with 1 118 weekly attacks
per organisation. The final two regions
of Europe and North America recorded
the least cybercrime with 670 and
503 weekly attacks per organisation
respectively.

Education and research most
impacted sector
Seeing a 75% increase in attacks
compared to 2020, the education/
research sector experienced the
highest volume of cybercrime last year
with an average of 1 605 attacks per
organisation each week. Out of the 16 Figure 2

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