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June 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics (Part I)
As usual, here we are with some fresh charts obtained from the first part of the June 2012 Cyber Attacks Timeline.
Let us start with the Motivations Behind Attacks chart. Once again Cyber Crime Ranks at number 1, showing a growing trend respect May, from the 61% to 82% (at least in this first half). On the other hand, hacktivism-led cyber events have dropped from 30% to 14%. Apparently no explicit Cyber Warfare event has been detected, at least according to the data I collected.
Starting, from this month, to make the Distribution Of Targets chart less fragmented and more readable, I decided to aggregate all the attacks against Industries (and Organizations). W
ith this new classification, Government targets go down at rank number 2 with the 15% of occurrences (against the 22% of the previous month), followed by targets belonging to education with the 10% (the same value collected on May). Interesting to notice is the apparent lack of attention by cybercrookers against Law Enforcement targets. In any case, if we consider the fact that Industry data have been aggregated, the chart is not so much different from the one of May: Governements keep on showing a worrying lack of Security.
Last but not least, during the first half of June, it has apparently been difficult to identify the 40% of the attack techniques, although, SQLi (and more in general DB vulnerabilities) keeps on to hold the crown among the identified events. Interesting to notice the drop of DDoS attacks (from 20% of the sample to 10%). Probably it is not a coincidence that it has followed the same trend than the hacktivism-driven Cyber Attacks, having halved its rate with respect to the previous month.
Again, no need to repeat that data must be taken very carefully since they do refers only to discovered attacks (the so-called tip of the iceberg), and hence do not pretend to be exhaustive but only aim to provide an high level overview of the “cyber landscape” of the month.
Furthermore, if you want to have an idea of how fragile our data are inside the cyberspace, have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011 and 2012 (regularly updated), and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates.
Also, feel free to submit remarkable incidents that in your opinion deserve to be included in the timelines (and charts).
Related articles
- May 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics (hackmageddon.com)
- April 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics (hackmageddon.com)
- June 2012 Cyber Attacks Timeline (Part I) (hackmageddon.com)
May 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics
As I did last month for the Cyber Attacks occurred in April, I have aggregated the data collected on the timelines of May (on the right) in order to provide a consolidated view of the month according to the three parameters of Motivations Behind Attacks, Distribution of Targets and Distribution of Attack Techniques. Again, no need to repeat that data must be taken very carefully since they do refers only to discovered attacks (the so-called tip of the iceberg), and hence do not pretend to be exhaustive but only aim to provide an high level overview of the “cyber landscape” of the month.
As far as Motivations Behind Attacks are concerned, month after month, the charts are becoming monotonous. Cyber Crime ranked undoubtedly at number one with the 61% of occurrences. Twice the occurrences of Hacktivism which ranked at number two. In this chart, Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage motivated-attacks are well behind although they were few but good (One Flame was enough for this month, wasn’t it?).
The Distribution of Targets chart is highly fragmented even if with a familar pattern: Government targets ranked firmly on top of the preferences for the attackers, with Education and Law Enforcement targets completing the top three (although, compared to April, they swapped their positions in this unenviable chart). It worths to mention that targets belonging to organizations that offers on-line services are fragmented as well, but if the single entries are summed up, they would rank at number two with approximately the 15% of occurrences.
The Distribution of Attack Techniques chart whows that SQL Injection has been the preferred weapon used by Cyber Criminals in May, overtaking Distributed Denial of Service, the Cyber Paintball Pistol. Clearly the occurrences of DDoS attacks are influenced by the winds of hacktivism which did not blow so high in May. Interesting to notice a further important number of events (17% of the sample) related to unknown attacks targeting DBs, which clearly shows that data repositories are proving to be the weakes element of the chain. May the patch enFORCEment be with you!
If you want to have an idea of how fragile our data are inside the cyberspace, have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011 and 2012 (regularly updated), and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates.
1-15 May 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics
As I did in the last month, I have summarized the data collected in my Cyber Attacks Sample for the first half of May, (whose thumbnail is on the right), in order to provide some aggregated statistics. Collected Data have been summarized in three charts representing: Motivations Behind Attacks, Distribution of Targets and Distribution of Attack Techniques. Although the 60 attacks sample does not intend to be comprehensive (and hence the results must be taken with caution), the charts provide a quick overview, which in turn might be useful to identify trends and hopefully to address countermeasures. Apparently the trend is quite (un)stable with Cyber Crime, ranking at number one as the primary motivation for the attacks, and Governments that continue to be the preferred targets for cybercrookers.
As far as Motivations Behind Attacks are concerned, once again Cyber Crime ranks at number one with nearly the 70% of occurrences. Hacktivism is well behind with “only” the 23% followed by Cyber Warfare and Cyber Espionage that triggered singularly the 10% of attacks. If compared with April, the trend shows a growth of Cyber Crime and a corresponding reduction of hacktivism. As far as Cyber Espionage is concerned, particularly interesting om this month have been the Attack to U.K. Ministry Of Defence and to some undisclosed U.S. Natural Gas Companies.
The Distribution of Targets chart confirms that Governments continue to be the preferred targets for Cyber Criminals and Hacktivists with nearly one third (30%) of occurrences. With respect to April, targets belonging to educational sector have gained one position ranking at number two with the 15% of occurrences and before the LEAs which shifted at the third place with the 7% of occurrences. If we sum up military targets to LEAs we have the 12%. In any case the trend is in line with the previous month.
SQL Injection is the number one among Attack Techniques, with the 36% of occurrences taking over, at least in the first two weeks of may, Distributed Denial Of Service, that ranks at number two with the 18%. Summing up the “conclamated” SQLi Attacks with the “uncertain” SQLi Attacks, leads to the surprising result that nearly one attack on two (46%) has been performed exploiting this kind of vulnerability. So definitively run and patch your applications!
If you want to have an idea of how fragile our data are inside the cyberspace, have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011 and 2012 (regularly updated), and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates. Also feel free to submit at ppasseri@gmail.com details about Cyber attacks in order to make the timelines even more detailed and meaningful.
Related articles
- April 2012 Cyber Attacks Statistics (hackmageddon.com)
- May 2012 Cyber Attacks Timeline (Part I) (hackmageddon.com)
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08/13/2011 - My Post on Android Malware Mentioned on Engadget.
04/14/2011 - The Article Smart Grid: L'ultima Frontiera del Cybercrime published on ICT Security Magazine May 2011.
03/14/2011 - Security Summit 2011: Paolo Passeri guest at Round Table "Mobile Security: Rischi, Tecnologie, Mercato"
02/14/2011 - The Article Gears of Cyberwar published on ICT Security Magazine January 2011.
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