Week of April 26th, 2024

Welcome to Your Cybersecurity Recap: a bite-sized weekly newsletter by cybersecurity enthusiasts, for cybersecurity enthusiasts.

Here are this week’s top takeaways:

The World Economic Forum Has Released the World’s Biggest Cyberattack Targets. Are You on the List?

Have you heard? Citing data first published by the European Repository of Cyber Incidents (ERCI), Statista reported this week that critical infrastructure is the target cybercriminals go after most frequently. State institutions and political systems are the second most common target, with more than 450 reported incidents in 2023 alone–and more anticipated throughout the remainder of 2024.

The healthcare sector bears the brunt of cybercrime activity in 2024 and beyond, accounting for 14.2% of all attacks targeting critical infrastructure. These include ransomware attacks, the theft of confidential patient healthcare records, and the disruption of care services..

Financial organizations are another primary target, accounting for 8.3% of attacks on critical infrastructure since the start of 2024. Telecommunications, transport, and the energy sector were also highlighted as sectors that are targeted regularly.

This correlates with existing data , which reflects that:

• There are an estimated 800,000 cyberattacks per year in 2023–with that number predicted to continue to rise annually
• 97% of security breaches are exploiting WordPress plugins
• Every 39 seconds, a threat actor targets a business’s cybersecurity infrastructure?
• An estimated 300,000 new malware are created daily
• 92% of malware is being delivered via email
• In 2024, it’s taking organizations an average of 49 days to identify a cyberattack
• Over 4.1 million websites have malware?
• And 66% of interviewed CIOs continue to increase their investment in cybersecurity

When it comes to cyber threats, a proactive approach is the best approach. How is your team safeguarding your organization's data in 2024?

Experts Herald a Zero-Trust Approach as the Best Defense Against Cyber Crime?

According to the latest research by Gartner Inc. , 63% of organizations globally have implemented a zero-trust strategy into their operations.?"Zero trust security" is defined as a framework in which verification is required from everyone attempting to gain access to resources on the network. This added layer of security has been shown to prevent data breaches.

56% of surveyed organizations stated that they were doing so because a zero-trust approach is considered "an industry best practice." However, a zero-trust strategy often addresses only half of an organization's environment, at most, in many cases, said John Watts, vice president analyst and KI leader at Gartner, in a recent interview with Dark Reading.?

"Enterprises are not sure what top practices are for zero-trust implementations," he noted in the firm's announcement on the survey, which was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2024. “These practices potentially can make the transition to zero trust more successful and beneficial to organizations. While 35% of organizations reported failures that interrupted their implementation of zero-trust strategies, organizations should have a zero-trust strategic plan outlining operational metrics and measure the effectiveness of zero-trust policies in order to minimize delays."

Despite the strong ROI (return on investment) a zero-trust security model delivers, organizations struggle to implement it properly.

Although it is predicted that, even if organizations plan to achieve a comprehensive and fully optimized zero-trust principle, by 2026 only a 10th of all enterprises will create a fully-grown zero-trust framework . By then, new attack techniques will mature, and the zero-trust model may be able to dodge or minimize the impact of about half of all attacks.

Zero-trust security is a powerful approach to cybersecurity that, when utilized correctly, can help safeguard sensitive data, networks, and resources from threats. With that being said, however, implementing it properly requires organizations to address challenges that, if not tackled head-on, will not result in the desired security outcomes.

New MetaMask Android “Apps” Threaten to Steal Data. Here’s How to Mitigate Your Risk?

Mobile crypto wallets are the prime targets of many fake phishing Android applications that mimic the popular crypto wallet, MetaMask , while leveraging typosquatting on malicious domains. These apps, which smishing campaigns may distribute through SMS, are likely dangerous.

The rising number of MetaMask users of Ethereum has fueled this trend in attacks. Its popularity and large user base make it a lucrative target for threat actors to exploit its reputation for financial gains through impersonation tactics.

Although MetaMask’s primary user base consists of individual consumers, some enterprises and businesses may leverage certain features or integrations to manage crypto assets or interact with blockchain systems.

Smishing, as one of 2024’s most common types of phishing attacks , makes clever use of cell phone text messages to deliver the bait with the purpose of persuading people to divulge their personal information. Smishing attacks characteristically ask the user to click a link, dial a phone number, or contact an email address provided by the malicious party through SMS message. Further, the victim is invited to provide their private data and; more often than not, credentials to other websites or services. Lastly, SMS phishing messages may come from telephone numbers that are in an unusual or unanticipated format.