Researchers from Avanan report on attacks on the Caribbean island nation of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and explain how hackers threaten the government there on a daily basis. The islands, with a population of 100.000, experienced 34.000 phishing attacks a year.
Check Point reports attacks against the government of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Researchers at Check Point subsidiary Avanan, a leading provider of email security solutions, have examined the attacks on the Caribbean island nation and placed them in the context of the increasing number of cyber attacks against authorities worldwide.
Over 1.500 attacks on governments – per week!
According to Check Point research, the second most targeted area in the world is the government sector. In the third quarter of this year, governments were attacked an average of 1.564 times per week, a 20 percent increase from a year earlier. This finding is consistent with other research. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has documented every major cyberattack on a government since 2006.
The list that the research center maintains is incredibly comprehensive and remarkable. Almost every major country is listed in one way or another. Attacks range from phishing emails to malware to account theft and more. These are large-scale attacks, often targeting critical infrastructure. However, Avanan researchers have now investigated what the smaller, yet harmful, daily attacks look like.
background of the attacks
The small nation of Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis has fewer than 100 inhabitants. The government as a whole, i.e. all employees in different departments, is exposed to an average of 000 phishing attacks every day, that's about 93 a week. Extrapolated over the year, that's a total of around 651 phishing attacks. Of these attacks, five percent manage to get past standard security measures. That's 34 phishing attacks reaching end users every year - across government.
Constant attacks on Saint Kitts and Nevis
However, some departments are affected much more often than others. The Bureau of Standards, which is responsible for standardizing measurements and safety, among other things, is by far the most commonly targeted and their leaders are the most targeted individuals. Why this department was attacked more than others is not clear. Among the departments that came under the least attack were the Foreign Office and the Attorney General's Office. The hackers mostly used the same methods. In this case, financially motivated attacks were the most common attack vector. Tapping access data came second.
Attacks on authorities and ministries
The attacks on the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis are a good example of the small, everyday threats whose impact is all too often underestimated. Almost every country is facing the effects of an unprecedented cyber battlefield.
Some countries are more aggressive than others, but all countries are under attack in one form or another. In addition to the potential for political destabilization or gaining a potential strategic advantage, these attacks are also valuable because governments hold an incredible amount of personal data. From ID numbers to health information to criminal history and tax information, governments around the world are a treasure trove of these valuable records. Authorities and ministries are thus threatened by a large number of different types of attacks.
Each government thus receives a different attack profile from hackers based on its size, geopolitical considerations, and the like. For this reason, defense measures should also be individually adapted, but in the end never ignore the most important factor: the consolidation of IT security solutions.
More at Avanan.com
About check point Check Point Software Technologies GmbH (www.checkpoint.com/de) is a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions for public administrations and companies worldwide. The solutions protect customers from cyberattacks with an industry leading detection rate for malware, ransomware and other types of attacks. Check Point offers a multi-level security architecture that protects company information in cloud environments, networks and on mobile devices, as well as the most comprehensive and intuitive “one point of control” security management system. Check Point protects over 100.000 businesses of all sizes.