CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. announced the release of the 2022 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report, which details an 82% increase in ransomware-related data leaks, debuts two new adversaries - WOLF (Turkey) and OCELOT (Colombia) - and adds 21 new tracked adversaries across the globe. The 8th annual Global Threat Report also outlines new operations and techniques from the Big Four: Iran, China, Russia and North Korea, breaks down the aftermath of the Log4Shell attacks and shows adversaries are moving beyond malware, as 62% of recent detections were malware-free.
The landmark CrowdStrike Intelligence report documents both the continued evolution of nation-state affiliated and criminal adversaries, as well as the increased sophistication, velocity and impact of targeted ransomware, disruptive operations and cloud-related attacks in 2021. Key findings in this year’s report give organizations the insight required to mature their security strategies and defend their businesses against prolific cyber threats.
Nation-State and Criminal Groups Continue to Expand
The 2021 threat landscape became more crowded as new adversaries emerged. CrowdStrike Intelligence today tracks more than 170 in total. Notable adversary updates include:
Adversary Tradecraft Becomes More Sophisticated
The report highlights that the startling growth and impact of targeted ransomware, disruptive operations and an uptick in cloud-related attacks in 2021 was a palpable force felt across nearly every industry and in every country.
“As cyber criminals and nation-states around the world continue to adapt in the changing, interconnected landscape, it’s critical that businesses evolve to defend against these threats by integrating new technologies, solutions and strategies,” said Adam Meyers, senior vice president of Intelligence at CrowdStrike. “The CrowdStrike Falcon platform, powered by the world class intelligence that informs this annual report, offers the full suite of tools necessary to deliver hyper-accurate detections, automated protection and the remediation needed to stop threats in their tracks. The annual Global Threat Report paints a picture that shows enterprise risk is coalescing around three critical areas: endpoints and cloud workloads, identity and data, and provides a valuable resource for organizations looking to bolster their security strategy.”