Report finds declining ransomware incidence, growing malware prevalence

Even though ransomware attacks declined during the first six months of 2022, malware attacks have been on the rise over the same period, according to The Register. Ransomware incidents around the world dropped by 23% during the first six months of the year, a SonicWall report found. While the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as more intensive law enforcement action, have contributed to the decline, more ransomware attacks could be expected within the next six to 12 months, said SonicWall CEO Bill Conner. Meanwhile, malware attacks reached 2.8 billion during the first half of the year, with encrypted threats and IoT malware in North America spiking by 284% and 228%, respectively, as global IoT malware prevalence grew by 77%. Such attacks should prompt the adoption of network segmentation, noted Conner. "Network segmentation is really hugely important you need segmentation because regardless of how they [the miscreants] get in, you don't want them to have east/west complete latitude," he added.