Governments and public services facing 40% more cyberattacks

BlackBerry has released its latest Quarterly Global Threat Intelligence Report, highlighting a 40% increase in cyberattacks targeting  government agencies and the public services sector.

BlackBerry says the company's AI-driven cybersecurity solutions have stopped 55,000 individual attacks overall between March and May 2023.

"Governments and public services, such as public transit, electricity, water services, schools, and non-profit organisations, stand as unfortunate bullseyes for cybercriminals and other threat actors, whose attacks seek to wreak maximum havoc and who often times face very little resistance," says Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Threat Research and Intelligence at BlackBerry. 

"With limited resources and immature cyber defense programs, these organisations are struggling to defend against the double pronged threat of both nation states and cybercriminals. 

"Now, more than ever, they need access to actionable cyber intelligence to direct and strengthen their security strategies, while safeguarding the vital services, institutions, and trust upon which our societies thrive."

Other highlights from the latest BlackBerry Global Threat Intelligence Report include:

Increase in Cyberattacks Per Minute: Over the past 90 days, BlackBerry stopped over 1.5 million attacks. Threat actors deployed an average of 1.7 new malware samples per minute, a 13 percent increase from the previous reporting periods average of 1.5 new samples per minute, highlighting attackers work to diversify their tooling to bypass defensive controls.

Healthcare and Financial Services Industries Are Most Targeted: In healthcare, the convergence of valuable data and critical services presents a lucrative target for cybercriminals. BlackBerry stopped over 109,922 attacks across the healthcare sector over the past 90 days. As ransomware groups continue to target organisations in these industries with information-stealing malware, the report highlights the importance of securing patient data and safeguarding the delivery of essential medical services.

Mobile Malware on the Rise: Financial services institutions are facing persistent threats through smartphone-centric commodity malware, ransomware attacks, and the rise of mobile banking malware targeting the growing trend of digital banking services. The report explores cybersecurity challenges for the financial sector as threat actors exploit an online-banking-first mindset. 

BlackBerry provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500 million endpoints including over 235 million vehicles.  

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety, and data privacy solutions, and is a specialist in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems.