Cyber-attacks hit all-time high in 2021

Cyber-attacks hit an all-time peak at the end of 2021, topping more than 925 attacks a week per organisation, according to a report from Check Point Research.

There has been 50% more attacks per week on corporate networks compared to 2020, researchers found.

The education and research sector was victim to the highest volume of Cyber-attacks, averaging 1,605 attacks per organisation every week – a 75% increase from 2020. The government and military sector were just behind with 1,136 attacks per week (47% increase), and the communications industry was the third highest, with 1,079 attacks weekly per organisation (51% increase).

Globally, Africa saw the highest amount of attacks in 2021, with an average of 1,582 attacks per organisation per week, a 13% increase from the year before. Following this, APAC experienced an average of 1,353 attacks per organisation (25% increase), Latin America saw 1,118 attacks weekly (38%), Europe experienced 670 attacks per week (68% increase), and North America, with an average of 503 attacks per organisation per week (61% increase).

Check Point Research (CPR) found that one of the most dominant challenges facing security practitioners is Gen V attacks – a combination of a wide breadth of threats, large scale attacks, and a broad attack surface. CPR recommends “a security architecture that enables and facilitates a unified and cohesive protection infrastructure” which will “provide more comprehensive and faster protection than an infrastructure comprised of pieces that don’t work together.”

This means implementing a security system that covers everything such as email, web browsing, servers, and storage.

Check Point also advises organisations to maintain up-to-date security patches, segment their networks with strong firewalls and IPS safeguards and raise user awareness in employees.