Analysis Qoq Qoqgreigzdnet: In Q2 2021, 740 organizations faced ransomware attacks and had their data posted to leak sites. This is up 47% over the second quarter last year. The number of retail sector targets increased 183%, with large retailers such as Neiman Marcus facing an attack in March. The rise of the terrorism-linked group “Islamic Caliphate” and its decentralized model has added to the concern about cyberattacks from hackers, criminals, or nation-states.
The number of organizations attacked with DDoS attacks in Q2 increased 14% QoQ, with the average attack size increasing 44% QoQ. As reported by the Ministry of Security, a series of DDoS attacks hit 500 targets in 180 countries around the world from March 18 to April 8. At its peak on March 25, 2019, the number of targeted victims reached 9,450 and 1.9Tbps over a 12-hour period.
The number of organizations in the manufacturing sector hit by ransomware attacks increased 28% QoQ, while the number of organizations in education sector hit by ransomware attacks increased 23%. According to a report released by Bitdefender Lab, the use of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is on the rise. The owners of RaaS platforms take care of collecting ransom payments and supplying malware, while criminals only need to develop a distributed attack method and share it with subscribers. These platforms further enhance the coordination of DDoS attacks.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in Q2 2019, the number of internet users rose 5.3% QoQ to 590 million, and the online population reached 729 million. In addition, China’s third-party payment payment users fell 18% to 270 million in January-May 2019 compared with a year ago. The decline is expected to continue due to regulatory tightening over user privacy information.
The rise of the terrorism-linked group “Islamic Caliphate” and its decentralized model has added to the concern about cyberattacks from hackers, criminals, or nation-states. In Q2, the number of organizations facing ransomware attacks in the finance sector rose 149% QoQ. The National Audit Office will publish its investigation report on the case at the end of this month.
According to the APAC Online Banking Security Report released by Bank of China, the number of domestic online banking sites in Japan fell 8% QoQ. This is attributed to the weak yen, which makes electronic payment services in Japan more expensive for overseas banks. In addition, a recent law requiring financial institutions with more than ¥5 billion in assets to store data on their clients for six months (instead of three months under the old version) will also negatively affect industry revenue and subsequently impact website access growth.
