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2021 State of the Threat Report

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Ransomware. Supply-chain exploits. Zero-day attacks. Cryptojacking. Cyber threats have taken over 2021 — and they show no sign of stopping.

2021 State of the Threat: A Year in Review

Ransomware. Supply-chain exploits. Zero-day attacks. Cryptojacking. Cyber threats have taken over 2021 — and they show no sign of stopping.

2021 State of the Threat: A Year in Review

There Are Scores of Threats Out There, but Ransomware Remains the Primary Enemy for Most Organizations

The ransomware landscape continues to thrive. Incident volumes, average ransom demands—these factors and more are increasing.

The menace of Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) affiliate models makes it easy for threat actors to scale their operations and target any industry or business regardless of size. In fact, these attacks can devastate even the largest global conglomerates.

And ransomware accounts for over half of the incidents reported by Secureworks. It is the number-one threat our customers face daily.

However, it’s far from the only threat plaguing businesses. As companies work to solidify their defenses, adversaries do everything in their power to circumvent them.

In our 2021 report, we explore some of the most recent, hard-hitting cyberattacks. With this resource, we’ve developed a comprehensive view of the threat landscape across the security industry to date.

+8%

Rise in ransomware threats as a proportion of IR engagements worked in Q1 and Q2, compared to 2019

$85K

Average wire transfer sum requested in a Business Email Compromise attack in early 2021

19%

Of network intrusions featured Cobalt Strike, by far the most popular OST tool used by threat actors

Global Threat Intelligence Summit 2021

Want to hear more from Secureworks’ expert contributors? Watch on-demand recordings of the 2021 Global Threat Intelligence Summit for detailed insight on today’s most critical threats.

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Key Findings from State of the Threat

  • This 40+ page report comprehensively examines the adversary’s ongoing innovation and evolution of tried-and-true TTPs like ransomware, business email compromise, zero-day threats, espionage, and more
  • You’ll read about some of the biggest attacks rolling across news headlines, as well as how both the government and security industry are responding to the rising need for risk mitigation
01

Ransomware remains the number one threat for most organizations.

02

2021 has seen increased use of zero-day exploits by threat actors, compared to 2020.

03

Just like ransomware, other types of cybercrime continue to flourish.

04

The role of security controls around authentication will remain crucial.

05

State-sponsored activity remains targeted and narrowly focused.

06

Cybercriminal and state-sponsored threat actors continue to leverage widely available offensive security tools (OSTs) in network intrusions.

How Secureworks Created State of the Threat

How Secureworks Created State of the Threat

The Secureworks® Counter Threat Unit™ gains thorough visibility of the threat landscape from a range of resources. To help compile this report, Secureworks experts analyzed a combination of over 1,400 incident response engagements, trillions of event logs from customer telemetry, and considerable technical as well as tactical insight from over 85 researchers.

With this keen intel, the CTU™ possesses a unique, unrivaled level of visibility into global threat actor intent, capability, and activity.

Download the report now for a detailed visualization of the threats the CTU has come across, the intelligence gathered from these engagements, and advice on securing your most valuable business assets.

1,400+

proactive and reactive incident response engagements per day

2 Billion

logs per day

85+

researchers focused on understanding the threat

Want to Hear More From Secureworks Counter Threat Unit™?

Get expert intel on the latest in ransomware, supply-chain exploits, cloud vulnerabilities, and more.

2021 Global Threat Intelligence Summit recordings now available on demand.

Browse the on-demand sessions