The report highlights some of the major issues affecting the international cybersecurity landscape. 

As per the report, there has been an alarming rise in ransomware breaches, which increased by 13 per cent in a single year, representing a jump greater than the past five years combined. 

The 2022 DBIR analysed 23,896 security incidents, of which 5,212 were confirmed breaches.

“As criminals look to leverage increasingly sophisticated forms of malware, it is ransomware that continues to prove particularly successful in exploiting and monetising illegal access to private information,” the report said.

Organised cybercrime 

Organised crime also continued to be a major issue in the cybersecurity landscape. Roughly four in five breaches can be attributed to organised crime, as per the report. Further, external actors are approximately four times more likely to cause breaches in an organisation than internal actors.

“Heightened geopolitical tensions are also driving increased sophistication, visibility, and awareness around nation-state affiliated cyber-attacks,” it said.

“Over the past few years, the pandemic has exposed a number of critical issues that businesses have been forced to navigate in real-time. But nowhere is the need to adapt more compelling than in the world of cybersecurity,” said Hans Vestberg, CEO and Chairman, Verizon. 

“As we continue to accelerate toward an increasingly digitised world, effective technological solutions, strong security frameworks, and an increased focus on education will all play their part in ensuring that businesses remain secure, and customers protected,” Vestberg said.

Key factors

Many businesses have been tackling supply chain issues. The trend was also reflected across the cybersecurity landscape. 62 per cent of System Intrusion incidents came through an organisation’s partner. 

“Compromising the right partner is a force multiplier for cybercriminals and highlights the difficulties that many organisations face in securing their supply chain,” as per the report.

The report also examined the cost of human influence. People remained the weakest link in an organisations’ cybersecurity defenses by far. 

25 per cent of total breaches in the 2022 report were the result of social engineering attacks. Adding human errors and misuse of privilege, the human element accounted for 82 per cent of analysed breaches over the past year.

Dave Hylender, Lead Author of the DBIR, said, “While the report has evolved, the fundamentals of security remain the same. Assess your exposure, mitigate your risk, and take appropriate action. As is often the case, getting the basics right is the single most important factor in determining success.”

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