A new report from OpenText, the information management software company, has highlighted that the collaboration and coordination taking place between nation-states and cyber-crime rings to target global supply chains and further geopolitical motives has become a signature trend in the threat landscape.

OpenText’s in-depth research found that organised crime rings are supporting attacks by nation-states – possibly through direct collaboration or coordination – by attacking the same targets at the same time.

When it comes to when to launch an attack, the 2024 Threat Hunter Perspective report noted that attackers are keyed in on specific events, while nation-states also target specific days of the week for cyber-attacks. This is “turning the upcoming U.S. presidential election into a time of imminent peril,” the tech firm noted.

OpenText’s deep dive also discovered that evasion, misdirection, and masquerading are helping adversaries get around defences designed for direct attacks. Furthermore, many attacks are taking advantage of weak security fundamentals, with victims increasing their vulnerability by not taking basic cybersecurity countermeasures.

Company CISOs need to know not just the types of threats but also who is behind them, when they might occur, why they’re happening, and how they’re executed. Connecting these dots can help threat hunters gain a clearer picture of the risks organisations face, enabling more effective preparation and response.

“Our threat intelligence and experienced threat hunting team have found that nation-states are not slowing down and, as notable events like the U.S. presidential election get closer, every organization in the global supply chain needs to be on high alert for advanced and multiple cyberattacks,” said Muhi Majzoub, executive vice president and chief product officer at OpenText.

“Based on the report’s findings, enterprises need to be prepared for large-scale attacks, making adversarial signals, threat intelligence and defense capabilities more important than ever.”

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The publishing of this new research follows shortly after another report, from the Nineteen Group, who found that a significant majority (72%) of the UK public believe that cyber warfare is likely to be the next step in modern combat.

Despite the UK government’s substantial investment in physical warfare, spending £54.2 billion on defence in the 2023/24 financial year, according to the UK Defence Spending report 2024, the majority of the public believes the next frontline will be in cyberspace.