Acronis released a new report – “Cyberthreats Report: Mid-year 2021” – noting that SMBs are more susceptible to a ransomware attack than ever. Based on trends observed over the past six months, Acronis noted that 80 percent of those surveyed experienced a cybersecurity breach stemming from “third-party vendor ecosystem” vulnerability, with average cost ($3.56 million) and ransomware payments ($100,000) both up over the year ago period.
Of note, teleworkers are considered particularly vulnerable, as 66 percent of remote workers employ a work-issued device for personal tasks, or vice-versa. Acronis noted a 300 percent increase “brute-force” attacks against remote machines, using RDP. Acronis observed more than twice the number of global cyberattacks, with a 300% increase in brute-force attacks against remote machines via RDP (remote desktop protocol).
Other observed trends included:
- 62 percent sequential growth in phishing attacks, for Q2.
- 94 percent of malware delivered through email.
- 393,000 malicious links blocked by Acronis alone.
- 1,100 instances of leaked data online, to date, for 2021, projected to mark a 70 percent uptick by year’s end.
