According to data from FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s threat intelligence and analysis laboratory, Brazil received 60 billion attempted cyber attacks in 2023, a much smaller number when compared to the 103 billion attempts in 2022. This, however, is not necessarily a good news, as the global trend indicates fewer massive attacks, but a large volume of sophisticated exploits and new, much more targeted malware and ransomware variants.
For those in a hurry:
- In short, there are fewer attacks, but created for specific objectives, which makes them more sophisticated and more likely to be successful if companies do not have integrated, automated and updated cybersecurity defenses;
- The Latin America and Caribbean region suffered 200 billion attempted attacks in 2023, which comprises 14.5% of the total reported globally last year;
- The Latin American countries with the highest cyber attack activity in 2023 were Mexico, Brazil and Colombia;
- The data reinforces the importance of remaining vigilant and strengthening defenses against potential targeted attacks.
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According to the report, throughout 2023, a notable presence of threats linked to Microsoft Office applications was observed. Although many of these threats already have their remediation signatures, the persistence in their detection suggests that attackers continue to find utility in exploiting them, as many organizations’ systems have not been patched or updated.
An example of this is FortiGuard Labs’ recent discovery of a phishing campaign distributing a new variant of the Agent Tesla malware. This well-known malware family uses a remote access trojan and a data stealer to gain initial access.
In the case of Microsoft applications, the distribution of malware through files such as Excel, Word and PowerPoint was responsible for almost 50% of malware detections.
- In addition to the notes for the big techthe research also showed that the Double Pulsar exploit remains at the top of the list as the predominant vulnerability in virtually all Latin American countries, representing 75% of all malicious activity detected in the last quarter of 2023.
In this scenario, Fortinet highlighted that, despite the drop in the number of attacks, organizations must be much more prepared than before, including cybersecurity as part of their business strategy. It is necessary for companies to have a broad platform that converges networks and security, that is integrated to reduce the complexity of operations and that is automated with AI to reduce the burden on IT teams.
With the global trend, it is extremely important that companies are able to monitor, detect and isolate any intrusion attempt before it infiltrates the network, even if it has already done so.
