2021 has been a record year for cyberattacks — especially ransomware attacks. We look at the cybersecurity attacks that made headlines and how we can stop similar attacks from occurring as we make our way into 2022.
Never-ending attacks, cybersecurity failures, and dramatic ransomware demands: all eye-opening references to describe 2021 from a cyber security perspective.
Cyberattacks and other cybercrimes are up 600%, a trend driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number, severity, and cost of these attacks — poised to reach $10.5 trillion in 2025 — has prompted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to establish cybersecurity as the focal point of its national security strategy (Embroker, 2021).
Globally, the concerns are also revealing, with the World Economic Forum citing “cybersecurity failure” as the fourth-highest immediate risk (WEF, 2021). Ransomware attacks are of particular concern, with approximately 37% of global organizations saying they’ve experienced some form of ransomware attack this year (Kerner, 2021).
As 2022 approaches, we’re reflecting on some of the headline-making cyberattacks in 2021 — and how these attacks can be addressed in the year ahead. Is your network prepared to fight?
SolarWinds—December 2020
While the SolarWinds hack technically happened in December 2020, the severity of the attack paved the way for what was to come in 2021. The data breach went undetected for months and made it possible for foreign hackers to spy on the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Treasury Department, and Fortune 500 companies.
Microsoft Exchange—January
Chinese government-backed attackers hacked into this widely used email program, helping themselves to emails, calendars, and contacts of large and small entities. A months-long examination of the attack found it was about more than spying, citing China’s plans and hopes to become a leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Oldsmar Water Plant—February
In what has been described as an isolated event, hackers went after the water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida. In an attack that lasted between three and five minutes, the level of sodium hydroxide in Oldsmar’s water rose substantially, putting thousands of residents’ lives at risk.
CNA Financial—March
CNA paid hackers $40 million to regain control of its network after a ransomware attack. The company initially said they believed their claims and underwriting systems weren’t impacted — until a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in November revealed that more than 75,000 people were compromised and victimized by the hack.
Colonial Pipeline—May
A ransomware attack forced a six-day-long shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. The attack prompted gas shortages and panic buying throughout much of the East and Southeast as residents moved quickly to purchase what limited gas was available.
Kaseya Ransomware Attacks—July
This summer, the IT firm Kaseya was hacked by cybercriminals who demanded up to $70 million in ransom. Thousands of managed service providers and their customers were locked out of their systems, resulting in widespread downtime and chaos.
Howard University—September
The top-tier private university was forced to cancel classes after being the victim of a ransomware attack. While the school says there was no evidence personal data had been stolen, it was enough to shut down the school’s Wi-Fi, putting ALL online-hybrid classes on hold.
There are many, many more — JBS Foods, the National Basketball Association, Brenntag, Acer, Quanta Computer Inc., AXA, and KIA Motors, to name a few — and two more this month: Apache’s Log4j vulnerability, which has been called one of the biggest threats to IT security in decades, and the Kronos ransomware attack, affecting how thousands of employees got paid.
Reading this Year in Review might prompt the question: Is it possible to identify cyberattacks before they actually happen? It is — with the correct perspective and the appropriate technology.
The New Era of CyberSecurity — CloudCover’s CyberSafety — is about taking a predictive, proactive approach instead of a reactive one. It’s about threat stopping, threat prevention — not threat hunting — through an AI-driven, machine-learning cybersecurity that delivers real-time extended network detection and response (X-NDR) through a patented, math-based security, orchestration and automated response (SOAR) platform.
CloudCover’s CyberSafety CC/B1 Platform™ focus is on three core, interrelated tenets: 1) awareness of network risk; 2) control of network risk; and if you can control risk, 3) the risk can be underwritten and transferred through cybersecurity insurance.
We know cybersecurity attacks will continue to happen. Let’s Reimagine Cybersecurity and commit to making #NoMoreHacking a reality.
Ready for this new era? Learn how to secure and protect your network and customers in the new year with the CC/B1 Platform. Request a demo today at cloudcover.cc/request-a-demo/.
References:
Empower Team (December 10, 2021). “2021 Must-Know Cyber Attack Statistics and Trends.” Empower. https://www.embroker.com/blog/cyber-attack-statistics/
Kerner, Sean Michael (2021). “Ransomware trends, statistics, and facts in 2021.” TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/Ransomware-trends-statistics-and-facts
The World Economic Forum (2021). “The Global Risks Report, 16th Edition.” The World Economic Forum. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2021.pdf
