May 2018: Cyberattack Volume Continues to Rise, Ransomware Attempts Jump 299 Percent

The very latest cyber threat intelligence for May 2018 depicts increases in a number of attack areas, particularly when comparing against 2017 cyber threat data. Through May 2018, the SonicWall Capture Labs threat researches have recorded:

Global Cyberattacks — May 2018

• 2 million malware attacks (64 percent year-over-year increase)
• 9 million ransomware attacks (78 percent year-over-year increase)
• 238,828 encrypted threats (142 percent year-over-year increase)

Global Cyberattacks — Year to Date

• 5 billion malware attacks (128 percent increase )
• 2 million ransomware attacks (299 percent increase)
• 2 million encrypted threats (283 percent increase)

To put these numbers in a more practical light, it’s helpful to break them down by customer. In May 2018 alone, the average SonicWall customer faced:

• 2,302 malware attacks (56 percent year-over-year increase)
• 62 ransomware attacks (69 percent year-over-year increase)
• Almost 94 encrypted threats
• Over 14 phishing attacks per day

With each passing month, cybercriminals continue to perpetrate cyberattacks at an ever-accelerating rate. It is interesting to note that although encrypted traffic is actually down slightly when compared with last year, encrypted threats have more than doubled. This points to cybercriminals who are more aware of the efficacy of encrypting their attacks.

In addition, phishing attacks have increased by almost 40 percent since last month. To better educate your end users and follow secure email best practices, use the phishing IQ test to increase their suspicions when opening emails, particularly from unknown senders.

As the cyber war continues between threat actors and security professionals, arming your organization with the latest cyber threat intelligence is critical to implementing or improving a sound security posture. As long as vulnerabilities exist, there are threat actors working to exploit them.

SonicWall Staff