Heaptalk, Jakarta — Kaspersky revealed that telecommunications (telcos) companies, mass media, and construction development were the top targets for cyberattacks in the first half of 2024.
According to Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response (MDR) statistics for January to June 2024, the telecommunications sector detected 284 cybersecurity incidents per 10,000 systems. The mass media sector experienced 180 attacks per 10,000 systems, while the construction development, food, and industrial sectors followed with 179, 122, and 121 incidents, respectively.
Telecommunications experienced the highest number of incidents, likely due to attackers’ interest in sensitive data and efforts to exploit trusted relationships. The mass media has traditionally been targeted during international conflicts, while construction development companies may also attract threat actors due to their extensive use of subcontractors.
Exposing millions of customer data
According to Sergey Soldatov, head of Kaspersky MDR, successful attacks, especially sophisticated ones, on telecommunications companies can expose millions of customer data, including contact details, social security numbers, and credit card information. This can also serve as a springboard for further attacks on clients by exploiting trusted relationships. That’s why Sergey says this sector is particularly attractive to cybercriminals.
“Mass media organizations, in turn, are increasingly targeted during international conflicts, often marked by information warfare where they play a crucial role. Lastly, construction development companies have significant cash flows and rely on subcontractors, making them vulnerable to attacks through trusted partner infrastructure and spear phishing,” Sergey stated in a written statement (08/03).
Other findings revealed that telecommunications companies faced the highest average number of critical incidents, with 32 attacks per 10,000 systems. The IT industry followed with nearly 12 critical incidents on average, while the government sector experienced an average of eight crucial incidents in the first half of 2024. Sergey explained that critical incidents are human-driven attacks or malware threats with significant potential or actual impact on a company’s infrastructure.
Globally, the number of cyber incidents remained relatively stable, with a slight decrease. Organizations tend to strengthen their cybersecurity measures after the surge in attacks in 2021-2022. Advances such as vulnerability assessments and penetration testing have improved overall security. “Cyberattacks usually reflect global conflicts, especially human-driven ones. The heightened threat landscape in 2021-2022 led to increased cybersecurity attention in companies and entities across various fields, resulting in higher security levels as organizations learned from past experiences,” Sergey concluded.
