Cyber takedowns soar, hitting utilities & manufacturing the hardest

TLDR: Cyber attacks have doubled globally in 2023, with the utilities and manufacturing industries being the hardest hit, experiencing an increase in threat attempts of over 200% and 165% respectively. A report by Armis titled ‘The Anatomy of Cybersecurity: A Dissection of 2023’s Attack Landscape’ highlights the challenges faced by organizations in securing their systems against cyber threats. The report also reveals an increase in cyber warfare, with industries in manufacturing, educational services, and public administration being prime targets for Chinese and Russian threat sectors. Additionally, the report shows that older versions of Windows server OS are at a higher risk of attack attempts, with a vulnerability risk particularly evident in the server environment. Furthermore, the report finds that despite businesses attempting to manage vulnerabilities and remediation, there were over 65,000 unique CVEs discovered in 2023. Curtis Simpson, CISO at Armis, believes that the insights provided by the report are invaluable for security teams in prioritizing efforts and justifying cross-team priorities. Security teams can use retrospective data and analysis to better plan for 2024 by focusing on outdated technology, prioritizing significant exposures, and utilizing AI-driven technologies for real-time defense and attack surface management.