Cyberattacks are real, not just a threat, says Positive Technologies

As the digital transformation of businesses and the concept of the digital government are now considered the essentials of our lives, the cat-and-mouse game between Cybersecurity Solutions and cyber threats is reaching its climax.

The notion of cyber protection has become a necessity that determines whether a business, government or an individual will survive in this contemporary digital world. Even if you are not an active internet user and regardless of whether you have access to sensible data at your workplace, any personal data has a value for criminals.

“The National Library of Great Britain experienced a massive outage due to an attack on October 28. The website was unavailable for more than 30 days. Almost a month later, on November 20, about 500,000 stolen files, including scans of employee passports and other personal data, were put up for sale on the dark web.”, states the “Cybersecurity Threatscape: Q4 2023”, the report by Positive Technologies, a leading cybersecurity firm.

According to the Positive Technologies report, out of all the successful attacks on organisations, the hackers had reached a staggering number of 40 percent in stealing personal data out of all the other types of data from the organisation. Moreover, the stolen personal data from the companies has often resulted in targeted attacks on individuals.

Although cybercriminals rely on various spyware and software while targeting organisations, their approach drastically changes against individuals.

“Social engineering was the main method of successful attacks on individuals, with its share accounting for 83 percent of all incidents. Nearly half of all successful attacks in Q4 resulted in sensitive data leaks.”

Thus being informed serves as the first and yet the most important gatekeeping against cyberattacks, as while fully eliminating the risk of being exposed to any methods of social engineering, an individual eliminates the risk of becoming their victim.

“In Q4 2023, the number of incidents related to the cybercrimes rose by 8 percent compared to Q3 and 19 percent YoY”, reveals the report.

The steady rise of cyber-incidents is directly related to the increased tech adoption within businesses as more companies are striving towards the automation of routine tasks and implementation of AI.

As the private sector is just discovering the benefits of transitioning its operations online, the concept of the state and digital world being implemented together is rather something of a standard right now.

Despite the difficult access to the internet due to the geographical concerns and Western-orientated development of technologies, the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region stands upfront as the prime example of digital governance.

Despite a lower success rate towards individuals, “8 percent of successful cyberattacks were targeted”, as Positive Technologies states. The large quantities of stolen personal data from bigger organisations allowed the criminals to later focus on individuals and often their wealth.

Middle East and Cybersecurity

Digitalisation has led to significant economic and social growth in Middle Eastern countries which has also attracted cybercriminals in their pursuit for regional and often oil-based wealth.

“Our specialists recorded details of 141 successful attacks on Middle Eastern countries. More than 80 percent of these attacks were targeted. One of the primary motives of cybercriminals targeting the Middle East is the theft of valuable information.”, estimates the company, one of the leaders in Cybersecurity in their “How APT groups operate in the Middle East” report.

Looking at the list of the most attacked countries, it is evident that regardless of how technologically advanced and protected a country is – more digitalisation opens more pathways and opportunities for cybercriminals.

A hefty 94 percent of all the hacker group’s attacks in the Middle East have targeted governmental services, the second most attacked industry was manufacturing with 81 percent, including the oil sector. The cross-sector attacks have risen throughout 2023 since the beginning of the Gaza Conflict, while “the military-industrial complex and the media have been facing even more frequent attacks”.

The notion of government-driven groups gaining geopolitical influence and advantage rather than neutral hackers hunting for wealth is especially noticed in the geopolitically unstable and often conflict-driven regions.

In contrast to other cybersecurity companies, the main aim of Positive Technologies is not to earn but rather to be a leader in cybersecurity and share their own experience across the world. Hence why Positive Technologies in 2011 have established the annual Positive Hack Days. This year it took place on May 23-26 in Moscow, attracted the direct support of the Ministry of Digital Development and involved more than 180 leaders and businessmen from across the world who are willing to learn from the best with more than 120 000 local visitors over the span of 4 days.