Cyberattacks on companies in 2024 will double the figures recorded in 2023 and will cost 10 billion

The estimate of cyber attacks who will suffer companies during the second half of 2024 has been increased by 39 percent, doubling last year’s figures, which translates into consequences such as that they will mean a cost to organizations of 10,000 million euros this year, according to NTT DATA.

The team of Cyber Threat Intelligence de NTT DATA which studies cyber threats at a global level, their impact and the focus of cybercriminals, has concluded a study that reflects the data collected in the first half of 2024, in which they point out that, for the rest of the year, the Increased connectivity and new technologies have created an environment in which threats to organizations will increase proportionally. and companies.

In this sense, the technology services company has stressed that it is expected that during the second semester this year, the Cyber ​​attacks estimated to increase by 39 percent reaching double the number of attacks recorded in 2023.

This will entail a series of risks that companies will have to take into account in the budget, since cyber attacks will reach cost companies close to 10 billion euros in 2024as stated by NTT DATA. Either by hiring security services as a form of protection against malicious actions or as part of the investment in solutions against attempted cyberattacks.

Following this line, the company’s cybersecurity group has pointed out that emerging technologies are causing the evolution in cybersecurity to take a new perspective., specifically, due to the potential development of the Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)which “drives cyber threats.”

Specifically, as explained in a statement, the evolution of generative AI “Arms malicious actors to develop malware“In addition, it also facilitates the proliferation of methods of social engineeringsuch as identity theft, the creation of ‘fake news’ or jumping barriers like the CAPTCHAall in order to execute bad practices.

In fact, according to data collected by NTT DATA, the use of AI in cyber attacks, in any of its multiple formats, has experienced a 600 percent increase in less than a year. Likewise, the report indicates that among the main types of attacks registered during the first half of the year, the ‘ransomware’, DDoS attacks and phishing attacks.

As indicated by the partner responsible for cybersecurity at NTT DATA in Spain, Miguel Ángel Thomas, companies face a time of great growth in cyber threats, since they are “times of a society of à la carte services”. In this framework, as he has pointed out, cybercriminals “are not left behind” and carry out “on-demand” cyberattacks.

Taking all this into account, Thomas has stressed that the problem is that “The high pace of digitalization is not accompanied by comparative threat protection”. This affects sectors that are “fundamental to the functioning of society” and, therefore, can cause problems and consequences that can “paralyze a large part of socioeconomic activity,” he warned.

EUROPE RECORDS THE GREATEST INCREASE IN CYBER ATTACKS

NTT DATA has also shared that, if this threat is analyzed by continents, Europe has recorded the largest increase in cyberattacks in 2024with a year-on-year increase of 64 percent.

This is due, in part, to its high degree of digitalization of the public sector and regulatory environments which, according to the technology company, can cause organizations to be “more vulnerable or visible targets.”

In the same way, among the most affected sectorsNTT DATA has indicated that more cyberattack attempts are recorded by government areasgiven their commitment to “digitize citizen services”, as they have pointed out.

Likewise, below public administrations, the areas with the most threats from malicious actors are services, and then, the transport, technology and retail sectors, that have more and more online users, as NTT DATA has highlighted in its report.