According to the latest Clusit Report, in 2021 cyber-attacks across the globe have increased by 10% compared to the previous year and they are more severe.
The impact of accidents is higher and the repercussions on the companies on economic and social side are stronger.
The Clusit report indicates some additional data about attacks geographical distribution: 21% towards Europe - a remarkable increase compared to 16% in 2020 - 45% towards American continent, 12% towards Asia.
Attacks with high impact are 79% (previous year 50%) - 32% critical severity, 47% high severity - while attacks of medium impact decreased by 13% and those of low level decreased by 17%. We can notice a reversal in the targets hit by cyber criminals.
Which are the targets of cyber-attacks? The situation in Italy
Cyberattacks no longer have multiple and undifferentiated targets, they hit certain sectors and services precisely: 15% government/military, 14% computer industry, 13% health and 9% education.
The goal usually is cybercrime, motivation of 86% of cyber-attacks.
According to the Fastweb Security Operations Center, 42 million security events were recorded in 2021 (+16% compared to the previous year). Malware and botnets are growing, the number of compromised servers has dramatically increased by 58%. Even on mobile devices, phishing links shared with messaging apps are becoming increasingly impactful.
In Italy, the sectors most affected are Finance/Insurance and Public Administration, that together make up about 50% of cases, while the industry target has risen from 7% in 2020 to 18% in 2021.
An analysis by Libraesva regarding the evolution of e-mail security in Italy has shown that threats are becoming more subtle and that attack techniques are evolving in directions difficult to monitor, quantify and intercept. The problem is becoming increasingly methodological and specialized.
Multi-factor authentication: a solution against cyberattacks
Multi-factor authentication (MFA), also known as strong authentication, is a security process that requires two or more factors to verify a user’s identity. In addition to the ID/user and password combination, it requires accessing a network, application, or other resource.
This is an additional security tool to make it difficult for an unauthorised person to access a network or database. Companies use MFA to control access to their systems and internal IT solutions, protecting data and resources from identity theft, account spoofing, and phishing.
The authentication process requires the combination of at least two verification factors of two different categories. Categories are knowledge factor - a password or a PIN code - possession factor - such as a smartphone, a computer, a smart card - and inherence factor - a fingerprint, a speech or facial recognition. Microsoft states that the MFA blocks over 99.9% of attacks that try to compromise accounts.
According to a report published by MarketsandMarkets, the MFA market was valued at $10.64 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $28.34 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.83% during the forecast period (2021-2026).
XCALLY, the benefits of two-factor authentication
XCALLY provides an easy and secure access via "two-factor authentication" security system (2FA) regardless of the device used, in the office or remotely, with or without connection.
This ensures a high level of security without compromising the user experience.
The digital environment is safer, simpler and more productive.
2FA system improves security and access experience by ensuring data protection.
Without device limitations, 2FA simplifies the access and makes the login experience more fast and secure.
The 2FA system can be enabled using the XCALLY commands available in the top bar.
A QR code, or alphanumeric code, is generated to configure the authentication method via Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.
As alternative, an OTP code can be generated and sent via email.
From the next login, the user will access via 2FA using the configured method.
By relying on XCALLY’s two-factor authentication, you can increase your security and enjoy all the features of omnichannel software to offer a customer care excellence.
