According to Microsoft analysis, there are now an estimated 921 password attacks occurring globally per second, a 74% increase in only one year.

The internet giant’s digital defence teams stopped 34.7 billion identity threats and 37 billion email threats between July 2021 and June 2022.

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According to the “Digital Defence Report 2022,” attackers are modifying and discovering fresh ways to employ their strategies, which makes where and how they host campaign operation infrastructure more challenging.

More than 100 million attacks against remote management devices were recorded in May 2022, a five-fold increase from the previous month.

“To lower their overhead and boost the appearance of legitimacy, attackers are compromising business networks and devices to host phishing campaigns, malware, or even use their computing power to mine cryptocurrency,” the findings showed.

As one-third of targets are effectively hacked by criminals utilising these attacks, and 5% of those are ransomed, human operated ransomware is the most common type.

Microsoft’s ransomware incident response engagements indicated insufficient privilege access and lateral movement controls in almost 93% of the cases.

The survey concluded that multi-factor authentication, regular security updates, and Zero Trust principles applied across network design are the best defences against ransomware.

Using powerful data analytics and AI algorithms, Microsoft claims to synthesise 43 trillion signals per day in order to analyse and defend against digital threats and illegal online activities.

“Nation state actors are launching increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks designed to evade detection and further their strategic priorities. Cybercriminals have begun using advancements in automation, cloud infrastructure, and remote access technologies to attack a wider set of targets,” said the company.

Till now, Microsoft has removed more than 10,000 domains used by cybercriminals and 600 used by nation state actors.

“Foreign actors are using highly effective techniques — often mirroring cyberattacks to enable propaganda influence to erode trust, impact public opinion, and increase polarisation — domestically and internationally,” the report cautioned.

(inputs from IANS)