Are Cyber Attacks Increasing?

Yes, cyber attacks including phishing, malware and ransomware attacks, continue to increase in 2024. According to Keeper Security’s recent study, 92% of IT leaders say cyber attacks are occurring more frequently today than in 2023.

Continue reading to learn which types of cyber attacks have increased in 2024, emerging cyber threats and how to protect your organization from cyber attacks.

Cyber attacks increasing in 2024

The most common cyber attacks increasing in 2024 include phishing, malware, ransomware, password and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Let’s take a closer look at each.

Phishing

Phishing attacks occur when a cybercriminal tries to persuade someone to share private information, such as passwords or credit card information. By impersonating people their target knows or trusts, cybercriminals send messages with malicious links or attachments they expect their target to click on. Most cybercriminals utilize social engineering tactics, which include psychological manipulation, to deceive their target into revealing personal information. 

For example, a cybercriminal may send an email pretending to be a company with which their target has an account. The message will say that to avoid deactivation, the target must click on a link immediately. Phishing attacks generally contain some type of threat and urgent language to get inside the target’s head, causing them to act without thinking and therefore share private information. Based on a 2024 survey commissioned by Keeper, IT leaders claim that phishing attacks are increasing at a rate of 51%, making it a significant threat to you and your organization. Recently, cybercriminals have been relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to make phishing attacks more effective; more on this later.

Malware

Malware is malicious software that infects devices when targets fall for phishing scams or download third-party files, apps or software. In 2024, there have been various malware attacks on companies, ranging from those in healthcare to entertainment and finance. For a company to be affected by malware, an employee may be tricked into downloading it through links or attachments. For example, if an employee downloads a PDF file from an email claiming to be from a coworker, malware will begin to infect their device and can send all personal and company data to a cybercriminal. Malware can even infect other devices sharing the same network, so multiple devices and employees within one company can be affected by a malware attack.

Ransomware

Some of the most common and damaging malware attacks are ransomware attacks. Ransomware is a kind of malware that stops employees and organizations from accessing their files and data until they’ve paid cybercriminals a ransom. After an organization pays the cybercriminal, they usually regain access to their devices or applications, but sometimes the cybercriminals take the money without fulfilling their promise to return access.

One of the most notable ransomware attacks of 2024 occurred in April when Ticketmaster had the data of more than 500 million customers stolen. The cybercriminals responsible for the ransomware attack demanded $500,000 or else they would sell customer data on the dark web. Ransomware attacks can affect organizations of any size and any place, as they are happening all around the world and in multiple industries, including healthcare, finance and entertainment.

Password attacks

One of the most common types of cyber attacks, both generally and in 2024, is password attacks. Password attacks happen when someone tries to access an account by guessing or stealing login credentials. Many password attacks impact individuals and organizations due to poor password practices, such as using weak or reused passwords and not enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). According to Keeper’s latest report, 41% of people have admitted to reusing passwords on multiple accounts. Cybercriminals can easily crack weak or reused passwords by making guesses, using previously leaked passwords, relying on algorithms or even utilizing AI tools.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack occurs when a cybercriminal tries to alter a server’s normal traffic by overwhelming the server to the point where it can’t function properly. DoS attacks can happen if a cybercriminal sends an abundance of requests to one server, even using bots to increase the volume of requests. As an organization, being a victim of this kind of cyber attack will slow your website down, making it challenging for customers to buy your products or services and potentially leading to a loss in revenue.

Emerging cyber threats to be aware of

In addition to the existing and increasing cyber attacks, there are several cyber threats to be aware of in 2024 and beyond.

AI-powered attacks

Cybercriminals are using AI to conduct cyber attacks like password cracking and phishing attacks. For password cracking, cybercriminals speed up the process of guessing and successfully accessing accounts by having AI crack frequently used passwords. Not only can AI crack passwords at a quicker rate, but knowing which passwords are most frequently used allows AI to go through more options without needing to think.

AI has also helped cybercriminals create phishing emails without the telltale signs of scams, such as spelling and grammatical errors. Since AI can write believable emails to compel cybercriminals’ targets to reveal sensitive information or money, the technology is being used to trick targets and quickly gather more data from those who fall for phishing attempts.

One way that cybercriminals use AI is to carry out vishing scams, which are phishing attacks done over the phone. Cybercriminals rely on AI to impersonate someone’s voice through audio or video recordings. For example, in grandparent scams, cybercriminals can use AI to mimic the voice of a target’s loved one and make the target believe their loved one is in danger. After being convinced that their loved one is in danger, since the voice sounds familiar, the target will send the cybercriminal money and personal information, thus falling for the scam.

Cybercriminals have also been relying on AI to commit more sophisticated DoS attacks. AI can launch powerful DoS attacks by using multiple systems and a large number of bots to flood a server with traffic. This makes it easier for cybercriminals to cause a server to crash or freeze, achieving their goal of disrupting the normal traffic of a website.

Deepfakes

A deepfake is a highly realistic piece of media, such as a video, image or audio recording, that is created to appear legitimate but is used to cause mass confusion. A common type of deepfake involves completing a face swap, where the face of one person is placed on a different body. Oftentimes, deepfakes depict people in embarrassing and inappropriate situations, so being a victim of a deepfake can be very stressful and scary, depending on how realistic it looks. Whether targeting an individual or an organization, deepfakes can damage reputations through blackmail, spreading misinformation, committing fraud and invading privacy.

Supply chain attacks

Supply chain attacks occur when a cybercriminal accesses an organization’s network through third-party vendors and suppliers. Once they access the network, an organization can lose customer data and financial information. Typically, a cybercriminal will introduce malware into a network through a third-party vendor or supplier. After the malware has been installed on an organization’s network, the cybercriminal will gain access to private information and can sell it on the dark web.

What organizations can do to stay safe from cyber attacks

Despite how scary and threatening these cyber attacks can be, there are several things that your organization can do to protect yourself and your employees from potential threats.

Increase password security

An important step every organization should take to protect its private information is to increase password security. Employees should be required to use a password manager. Password managers protect you and your organization from cyber attacks because they make sure employee passwords are strong and unique for each account, making them much more difficult for cybercriminals to crack.

Establish a cybersecurity culture

Build strong cybersecurity awareness and best practices within your organization. It’s easy to do this by running phishing tests, which are simulated phishing emails sent to employees to determine if they would fall for phishing scams. Based on how employees respond to these tests, your organization can assess whether additional security training is needed to better prepare them for a real phishing attack.

Implement least-privilege access

Organizations can keep their data protected by implementing least-privilege access, which gives employees just enough access to the information they need to do their jobs. Your organization should implement a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution, which will manage and secure accounts that have access to sensitive data, such as an organization’s IT department or HR staff.

Regularly back up data

Make sure that every employee’s device is backed up to protect your organization in case of a cyber attack. Your network could be infected with malware, causing many connected devices to lose their data. You should store your data on multiple physical servers or a cloud-based solution to ensure you always have a backup plan for your organization in the event of a cyber attack.

Stay protected against increasing cyber attacks

As an organization, you can stay safe against potential cyber threats and increasing cyber attacks by following cybersecurity best practices. Make sure your employees use strong passwords, rely on a password manager, participate in security training and back up their data. You can implement least-privilege access and see how a PAM solution can improve your organization’s security by requesting a demo of Zero-Trust KeeperPAM^® today.