Manufacturing Felt Brunt of Cyberattacks in 2021 as Supply Chain Woes Grew

IBM Security released its annual X-Force Threat Intelligence Indeks unveiling how ransomware and vulnerability exploitations together were able to "imprison" businesses in 2021 further burdening global supply chains, with manufacturing emerging as the most targeted industry. While phishing was the most common cause of cyberattacks in general in the past year, IBM Security X-Force observed a 33% increase in attacks caused by vulnerability exploitation of unpatched software, a point of entry that ransomware actors relied on more than any other to carry out their attacks in 2021, representing the cause of 44% of ransomware attacks.

The 2022 report details how in 2021 ransomware actors attempted to "fracture" the backbone of global supply chains with attacks on manufacturing, which became 2021's most attacked industry (23%), dethroning financial services and insurance after a long reign. Experiencing more ransomware attacks than any other industry, attackers wagered on the ripple effect that disruption on manufacturing organizations would cause their downstream supply chains to pressure them into paying the ransom. An alarming 47% of attacks on manufacturing were caused due to vulnerabilities that victim organizations had not yet or could not patch, highlighting the need for organizations to prioritize vulnerability management.

The new report maps new trends and attack patterns IBM Security observed and analyzed from its data - drawing from billions of data points ranging from network and endpoint detection devices, incident response engagements, phishing kit tracking, and more, including data provided by Intezer. Ransomware persisted as the top attack method observed in 2021, with ransomware groups showing no sign of stopping, despite the uptick in ransomware takedowns. According to the 2022 report, the average lifespan of a ransomware group before shutting down or rebranding is 17 months. For businesses in Europe, Asia and MEA, unpatched vulnerabilities caused approximately 50% of attacks in 2021, exposing businesses' biggest struggle- patching vulnerabilities.

"Cybercriminals usually chase the money. Now with ransomware, they are chasing leverage," said Charles Henderson, Head of IBM X-Force. "Businesses should recognize that vulnerabilities are holding them in a deadlock - as ransomware actors use that to their advantage. This is a non-binary challenge. The attack surface is only growing larger, so instead of operating under the assumption that every vulnerability in their environment has been patched, businesses should operate under an assumption of compromise, and enhance their vulnerability management with a zero-trust strategy.

Responding to the recent acceleration of ransomware takedowns by law enforcement, ransomware groups may be activating their disaster recovery plans. X-Force's analysis reveals that the average lifespan of a ransomware group before shutting down or rebranding is 17 months. While law enforcement takedowns can slow down ransomware attackers, they are also burdening them with the expenses required to fund their rebranding or rebuild their infrastructure.

The X-Force report highlights the record-high number of vulnerabilities disclosed in 2021, with vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems rising by 50% year-over-year. Although more than 146,000 vulnerabilities have been disclosed in the past decade, it's only been in recent years that organizations accelerated their digital journey, largely driven by the pandemic, suggesting that the vulnerability management challenge has yet to reach its peak. At the same time, vulnerability exploitation as an attack method is growing more popular. X-Force observed a 33% increase since the previous year, with the two most exploited vulnerabilities observed in 2021 found in widely used enterprise applications (Microsoft Exchange, Apache Log4J Library).

The 2022 report also sounds cautious on threat actors' continued investment into unique, previously unobserved, Linux malware, with data provided by Intezer revealing a 146% increase in Linux ransomware that has new code. As attackers remain steady in their pursuit of ways to scale operations through cloud environments, businesses must focus on extending visibility into their hybrid infrastructure. Hybrid cloud environments that are built on interoperability and open standards can help organizations detect blind spots and accelerate and automate security responses.