Cyber Attacks Increased by 50% in December 2021 due to Log4J Exploits

Less than a month after the world witnessed one of the most serious vulnerabilities on the internet, with millions of attacks per hour attempting to exploit the Log4J vulnerability, 2021 has been a record-breaking year in terms of cyber-security. Overall, in 2021, researchers have seen 50% more attacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020. India has witnessed 1803 Weekly average attacks per Organization in 2021 and there has been 24% change from year 2020.

Log4Shell is a critical vulnerability that has the potential to be one of the most impactful organizations have ever seen. Governmental advisories have been issued and organizations are scrambling not just to patch but to try to understand where they might be vulnerable. Check Point Research saw hackers targeted Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America the most, but Europe saw the highest percent increase in cyberattacks year over year. Education/Research placed first for the most targeted industry sector worldwide. The trend of increasing cyberattacks reached an all-time high at the end of 2021 after revelations of the Log4J exploit, peaking to 925 cyberattacks a week per organization, globally.

Most Targeted Sectors Worldwide by Hackers in 2021 are

Education/Research (+75%)

Government/Military (+47%)

Communications (+51%)

ISP/MSP (67%)

Healthcare (71%)

Hackers keep innovating. Last year, we saw a staggering 50% more cyberattacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020 – that’s a significant increase. The cyberattack numbers peak towards the end of the year, largely due to the Log4J vulnerability exploit attempts. New penetration techniques and evasion methods have made it much easier for hackers to execute malicious intentions. What’s most alarming is that we’re seeing some pivotal societal industries surge into the most attacked list. Education, government and healthcare industries made it into the top 5 most attacked industries list, worldwide. It is expected these numbers to increase going into 2022, as hackers will continue to innovate and find new methods to execute cyberattacks, especially ransomware. We’re in a cyber pandemic situation.

I strongly urge the public, especially those in the education, government and healthcare sectors, to learn the basics on how to protect themselves. Simple measures such as patching, segmenting your networks and educating employees can go a long way in making the world safer.