The number of cyber-attacks is increasing every year — this is confirmed by both international data and aggregated Tet information for 2021. Radware reports, that in the second quarter of 2021, the number of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the world increased by more than 40% compared to the previous year. In turn, the Latvian IT integrator Tet, which also works in Ukraine, in the first half of the year already blocked 2 050 DDoS attacks, which is almost the same as in 2020 (2). In six months, the company blocked 400 infected people e-mail and stated 109 thousand e-mail with spam
For the first half of 2021, the government computer emergency response team of Ukraine CERT-UA registered and processed about 100 cyber incidents, most of them — distribution of malicious software and phishing. Stopped over 400 DoS and DDoS attacks targeting government agencies. About 100 of them — on the website of the Security Service of Ukraine.
"In half a year, we blocked almost as many DDoS attacks as in the whole of last year, and this confirms the significant increase in cybercrime, which was facilitated by the consequences of the pandemic — remote work, digitization of business processes and the surge of e-commerce. Along with the development of technologies, cyber risks also increase, since the ways of sabotaging these technologies are also developing. — tells Artur Filatov, head of Tet's cyber security business. — Denial-of-service attacks, when requests are sent en masse that target online resources or enterprise/institution systems and paralyze operations, are becoming more and more widespread. In 2021, the largest attack we observed was 20,7 Gbps. On average, 70% of attacks have a capacity of less than 1 Gbps and are classified as not very large; about a quarter of average volume attacks — from 1 to 10 Gbps, and more than 3% — these are already very serious and large attacks that exceed 10 Gbps."
According to aggregated international data from The Cyber Rescue Alliance, 71% of cyberattacks on businesses this year were aimed at extortion. In the US, for example, the average amount required to redeem has increased by 300%. The industry is the absolute leader among the industries most often exposed to ransomware. The same data shows that 55% of enterprise IT decision-makers agree to pay a ransom, often because the company simply has no other choice if it plans to continue operating.
"This year, Tet was approached by a transport company whose data was encrypted. She had to pay 60 euros to get access to her information and continue working, as her activities were effectively paralyzed. In this case, the company's data and systems were not backed up, and until now nobody cared about cyber security. Unfortunately, if no protective measures were taken before the attacks, then after the attack it may already be too late. That is why it is necessary to take care of the company's data and systems before a cyber incident occurs." - clarifies A. Filatov.
In addition, it should be taken into account that criminals are changing tactics, becoming more "creative". Recently Latvian CERT Reported that in recent months there has been an increase in the number of new extortion emails in which criminals describe themselves as "contract killers" and demand a ransom to "cancel the order".
"Enterprises must also become more creative and do their homework to strengthen cyber security. It is necessary to monitor trends, to think over a plan for a cybercrisis. The better the company is prepared, the more difficult the life of cybercriminals becomes and the lower the risks of cyberattacks." - says representative of Tet.
