Trend Micro Reports 47% Increase in Blocked Cyber Threats

DALLAS — The global cybersecurity company Trend Micro reported that it blocked 40.9 billion cyber threats in the first half of 2021 — a 47% year-over-year increase.

The cyber threats mostly take the form of email threats, malicious files, and malicious URLs for customers and are discussed in the report “Attacks from All Angles: 2021 Midyear Security Roundup.”

The report by Trend Micro was released this month.

Ransomware remained “the standout threat” in the first half of the year, as cyber criminals continued to target big-name victims, according to Trend Micro. Cybercriminals used advanced persistent threat tools and techniques to steal and encrypt victims’ data, working with third parties to gain access to targeted networks.

As cyber threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, the report highlights the increasing need for “a holistic and scalable cybersecurity solution at the enterprise level.”

“The first step towards effectively mitigating cyber risk is understanding the scale, complexity, and specific characteristics of the threat landscape,” said Jon Clay, VP of threat intelligence, Trend Micro. 

The report provides “invaluable insights” to help organizations “build a more secure connected world,” Clay said.

Other key findings from “Attacks from All Angles”

• The banking industry was disproportionately affected, experiencing a 1,318% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks in the first half of 2021
• Business email compromise (BEC) attacks increased by 4%, potentially as a result of new COVID-19 opportunities for threat actors
• Cryptocurrency miners became the most detected malware, having surged ahead of WannaCry and web shells in recent months
• The Zero Day Initiative detected 770 vulnerabilities, a slight (2%) drop from 1H 2020
• A total of 164 malicious apps related to COVID-19 scams were detected, 54% of which impersonated TikTok