SonicWall today announced the release of the 2019 SonicWall Cyber
Threat Report that delivers an in-depth look at threat intelligence
obtained from its more than 1 million sensors from around the world.
Analyzed by the SonicWall Capture Labs, an elite team of threat
researchers, threat data collected over the course of 2018 indicates an
escalation in the volume of cyberattacks and new, targeted threat
tactics used by cyber criminals.
"Cyber perpetrators are not letting up in their relentless pursuit to
illegally obtain data, valuable information and intellectual property,"
said Bill Conner, President and CEO, SonicWall. "We must be unyielding
in this cyber arms race. Sharing vital threat information with our
customers and partners provides them a tactical advantage. But it's also
important to arm those at the forefront of this battle with this
intelligence, promote global awareness of the threat landscape and
continue to facilitate important dialogue around today's most prevalent
cyber threats."
In the wake of vulnerabilities like Spoiler, PortSmash, Foreshadow,
Meltdown and Spectre that can lead to side-channel attacks, SonicWall
threat researchers have deemed processor vulnerabilities a growing
security concern for both software and hardware technologies, which
could have unprecedented ramifications. SonicWall's patent-pending
Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection (RTDMI) identified 74,290
never-seen-before attacks in 2019. These variants were so new, unique
and complex that they were without a signature at the time of discovery
and included detection of multiple side-channel attacks.
As network defenses increase in sophistication, so do the anonymity
of attacks that now include the targeting of non-standard ports to
ensure payloads are concealed upon delivery. Based upon a sampling of
more than 700 million malware attacks, SonicWall research revealed that
19.2 percent of malware attacks used non-standard ports, a
year-over-year increase of 8.7 percent.
"The concern over security and privacy is more prevalent than ever
before. Industry and government must collaborate to build a more secure
environment, mitigate risk, and build citizen trust in government and
consumer trust in business." said Michael Chertoff, Executive Chairman
and Co-Founder of The Chertoff Group, and former U.S. Secretary of
Homeland Security. "This report provides critical analysis into the
evolution of cyber adversaries threat tactics and methods. As
organizations increasingly rely on metrics to understand and forecast
risk, this intelligence will help enterprises and governments make
informed decisions on their security investment."
PDFs and Office files have long since been an everyday operating tool
for organizations of all sizes and across all industries.
Cybercriminals are now leveraging these trusted files to circumvent
traditional firewalls and single-engine sandboxes to deliver malware.
SonicWall's multi-engine sandbox service discovered threats in over
47,000 PDFs and almost 51,000 Office files in 2018. This presents a
growing problem, as most security controls cannot identify and mitigate
the hidden malware contained in the files.
The annual report is a result of SonicWall Capture Labs threat
researchers analyzing data from over 200,000 malicious events and
malware samples daily to compare and document online criminal activity.
- 52 billion malware attacks were blocked in 2018, the most ever recorded to date by the SonicWall
- 5 percent increase in IoT attacks in 2018
- More than 2.8 million encrypted malware attacks were blocked in 2018, a 27 percent year-over-year increase from 2017
- 11 percent year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks
- 56 percent increase in web app attacks
- 9 trillion intrusion attempts
To download the complete report, please visit
www.sonicwall.com/ThreatReport.