Public sector and infrastructure come under attack as malicious web requests rise
The number of malicious web requests rose by 53.2 percent in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year according to a new study.
The report from German cybersecurity company Myra finds that for the first quarter of 2024, the number of malicious requests on websites, online portals and web APIs increased by 29.8 percent compared to 2023. In the second quarter, the growth was even more pronounced at 80 percent.
It also shows that public administrations and critical infrastructure are increasingly the target of cyberattacks across Europe. The number of attacks in the EU has risen by 31 percent year-on-year with three out of four targeting critical infrastructure.
The professionalization of cybercriminals and the growing use of cybercrime-as-a-service platforms are increasingly adding to the threat situation. Cybercrime has an estimated €148 billion ($162 billion) per year cost for the German economy and €8.6 trillion ($9.4 trillion) worldwide for 2024 -- this corresponds to around half of the European Union's gross domestic product in 2023.
The report notes that, "Through cybercrime-as-a-service platforms, criminal services such as DDoS attacks are provided cheaply via the darknet -- simple attacks are available there for as little as $10.3 This means that attacks are also possible for actors without any special technical skills."
Artificial intelligence poses both opportunities and also threats. AI can detect and mitigate threats faster than humans, but it also offers a powerful attack tool for cybercriminals. While LLMs are often used to create phishing campaigns the report says that there’s increasing evidence of them being used to create malicious code in order to exploit new vulnerabilities.
With the new NIS-2 directive set to come into force in Europe the report points out that, "…many companies are not yet sufficiently prepared for the implementation, which represents a challenge for SMEs in particular."
You can find out more on the Myra site.
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