Cyber attacks down 7% in H1, says report

Cyber attacks abated slightly in the first half of this year, though small businesses became increasingly common targets, according to a report released on Friday by Coalition, a tech-focused insurer.

Among the 160,000 businesses the company insures, the frequency of claims fell by 7% in the first half of 2022 relative to the last six months of 2021. The average size of a claim fell by 8% to $175,258.

But at the same time, the number of attacks on small and mid-sized organizations, which often have weaker security, increased. The average claim by small firms was $139,000 - enough to put a fledgling company out of business.

There was also a huge 57% rise in the frequency of claims from non-profit organizations.

Phishing (spoof emails purporting to come from a reputable sender) remained the number one technique that attackers used to get inside a system, accounting for 58% of claims.

"The single weakest link in an organization's security fence is its employees," says the report. "With more businesses continuing to allow remote or hybrid work models, employees may sometimes let their guard down and fall victim to phishing emails."

In better news, though, ransomware attacks declined as negotiators got tougher and companies learned to protect themselves through measures like offline data backups.

The average ransom demand fell to $896,000 (from $1.37m in the second half of last year) and, among those that were ultimately paid, Coalition managed to negotiate attackers down by an average of 20% from their initial demand.