Cybersecurity firm Critical Start has released its biannual Cyber Threat Intelligence Report, featuring emerging cybersecurity trends impacting the manufacturing, healthcare, technology, professional services, engineering, and construction industries.

The report also includes actionable insights to help organisations strengthen their security posture and proactively mitigate potential cyber-risk.

Global cyber-crime has shown no sign of decline and is expected to grow by 15% per year over the next five years, reaching $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015. To identify the most urgent cybersecurity threats of the first half of 2024, the Critical Start Cyber Research Unit (CRU) analysed 3,438 high and critical alerts generated by 20 supported Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, as well as 4,602 reports detailing ransomware and database leak activities across 24 industries in 126 countries.

The first half of 2024 saw a worrying trend in cyber-attacks targeting specific industries, with the report finding that manufacturing and industrial products remains the top targeted industry by cyber-threat actors in H1 2024, leading with 377 confirmed reports of ransomware and database leak hits in the first half of the year

Professional services saw an increase in reported database leaks and ransomware attacks, jumping by 15% compared to 2023 with 351 cases reported vs. 334. Legal services organisations, including courthouses, and supply chains have become prime targets due to the wealth of intellectual property and sensitive data they possess.

Healthcare & Life Sciences ransomware and database leak incidents surged by 180% in February 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, coinciding with the attack on Change Healthcare and other healthcare providers

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Engineering and Construction remained a consistent target for cyber-attacks in the first half of both 2023 and 2024 with the United States bearing the brunt of cyber-attacks in the first half of 2024, experiencing a staggering 46.15% increase compared to 2023

The report also highlights trending concerns for businesses, including:

• Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks: Previously focused on large corporations, BEC scammers are now targeting smaller, less cybersecurity-conscious businesses

• Deepfakes and Social Engineering: Findings show a surge in deepfake attacks, with an exponential 3,000% increase in deepfake fraud attempts

• Abuse of Open-Source Repositories: Attackers are increasingly using these repositories to launch two main types of attacks: repo confusion attacks and supply chain attacks

“The first half of 2024 has painted a concerning picture of the ransomware threat landscape. We are continuing to observe a surge in ransomware and database leak activities,” commented Callie Guenther, senior manager of Cyber Threat Research at Critical Start.