The first half of 2018 was the worst ever for IT security in Italy. The number of serious attacks has reached a new historical record at 730, 31% more than in the period July-December 2017. The data emerge from the new edition of the Clusit Report, presented this morning during the Security Summit of Verona.
In detail, between January and June there was an average of 122 serious attacks per month (up from 94 in 2017), with a maximum peak of 139 attacks in February: the highest monthly value in the last 4 and a half years.
Globally, again in the first half of 2018, cyber crime caused 80% of global cyber attacks, a figure up by 35% compared to the second half of 2017.
Computer crimes, continues Clusit, have increased in percentage terms by three figures in the first six months of this year in the "Automotive" sector, which marks +200%, and in the "Research/Education" sector, with +128%. The "Hospitability" sector follows: between January and June 2018, hotels, restaurants and residences suffered 69% more attacks than in the last six months of last year. Crimes in the Health sector (+62%), Institutions (+52%) and in online/Cloud services (+52%) and in the consultancy sector (+50%) are also growing sharply.
As for the techniques used by cyber criminals, "simple Malware" – industrially produced at ever lower costs – is the most used attack vector (40% of total attacks). This technique marks a 22% increase in the first six months of this year compared to 2017.
According to Clusit experts, Phishing and Social Engineering techniques are also increasingly used in attacks, increasing by 22% in the first six months of 2018.
