NTT has released its end of the year Global Threat Report detailing the cybersecurity trends that have occurred in 2021, and the ones likely to continue in 2022.
2021 has seen increasing threats on cybersecurity on an unprecedented level, with no industry left safe. In one instance, the damage moved from online into the physical world. The Colonial Pipeline breach directly resulted in gas shortages and physical fights after the pipeline was forced to shut down following a ransomware attack. It was the most critical attack against United States infrastructure to date.
Supply chains were also impacted, such as the attacks against Kaseya and Solarwinds. While these occurred in 2020, the ‘trickle down’ impact lasted into 2021 with attackers focusing on middleware or infrastructure as a reliable way to attack higher up the supply chain with ease.
Ransomware became cybercrime’s public enemy number 1, with 2021 seeing a dramatic shift in the business of ransomware. There was a noticeable rise in two areas, double extortion, and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS). While cybersecurity is working to keep up with the growing threats, ransomware will most likely continue into 2022 as a significant problem in cybersecurity.
You can read the full report here.
