Cyber Threat Intelligence Reports

Q4 2022 Threat Landscape: Tech and Manufacturing Targeted as Ransomware Peaks for 2022

In Q4 2022 Kroll identified a volatile and fragmented threat landscape, with ransomware peaking and tech and manufacturing sectors being increasingly frequently targeted.

Key Findings

• The Manufacturing, Healthcare and Technology sectors saw significant quarter-over-quarter increases in ransomware attacks in Q4 2022
• Familiar threats remained active throughout 2022, with phishing rising and unauthorized access increasing from 18% in 2021 to 25% in 2022
• Since the Conti disbandment, LockBit became the most commonly observed ransomware across Kroll engagements in 2022, with newcomers like BlackBasta and Royal becoming increasingly active

Dive Deeper

• Read the Q4 2022 Threat Landscape Report
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Q3 2022 Threat Landscape: Insider Threat, The Trojan Horse of 2022

In Q3 2022, Kroll saw insider threat peak to its highest quarterly level to date, accounting for nearly 35% of all unauthorized access threat incidents, set against a background of an increasingly fluid labor market and economic turbulence.

Key Findings

• Q3 saw an increase in insider threat incidents, accounting for a jump in unauthorized access as a threat incident type, which went from 24% in Q2 to 35% in Q3.
• Kroll observed an increase in malware due to the increased popularity in credential stealing malware, which has driven a rise in the use of valid accounts as initial access methods.
• With the shutdown of the Conti ransomware group, the official release of LockBit 3.0 dominated the ransomware headlines in the first part of Q3.

Dive Deeper

• Read the Q3 2022 Threat Landscape Report
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Q2 2022 Threat Landscape Report: Ransomware Returns, Health Care Hit

In Q2 2022, Kroll observed a 90% increase in the number of healthcare organizations targeted compared to Q1 2022, dropping the final nail in the coffin for the “truce” some criminal groups instituted earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Findings

• Healthcare overtook professional services as the top targeted sector in Q2, accounting for 21% of all Kroll cases, compared to only 11% in Q1 2022
• Phishing attacks continued to evolve in Q2, as Kroll observed threat actors using old and new malware such as Qakbot and Bumblebee
• External remote services such as RDP and VPN were used for initial access 700% more this quarter and CVEs were exploited for initial access 46% more in Q2

Dive Deeper

• Read the Q2 2022 Threat Landscape Report 
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Q1 2022 Threat Landscape Report: Threat Actors Target Email for Access and Extortion

In Q1 2022, Kroll observed a 54% increase in phishing attacks being used for initial access in comparison with Q4 2021. Email compromise and ransomware were the two most common threat incident types, highlighting the integral part played by end users in the intrusion lifecycle.

Key Findings

• While email compromise showed an increase of 19% from Q4, ransomware incidents trended down
• Incidences of phishing for initial access soared by 54%, potentially driven by a rise in malspam campaigns by Emotet and IcedID
• Consistent with the previous two quarters, professional services was the most targeted sector

Dive Deeper

• Read the Q1 2022 Threat Landscape Report
• Watch the webcast replay

About Kroll’s Cyber Threat Landscape Reports

Handling over 3,000 cyber incidents worldwide every year, Kroll is one of the largest incident response providers in the world. This unparalleled volume of investigations feeds a rich cyber threat intelligence database, from which our investigators and analysts publish trends every quarter.

Kroll’s Cyber Threat Landscape Reports are solely driven by real-life data from incidents and insights from our investigators on the frontlines. Each report focuses on:

• The most popular threat incident types, including ransomware, email compromise, unauthorized access, web compromise and more
• Quarterly threat timelines to help network defenders, security and risk leaders catch up with meaningful developments in malware development, vulnerabilities and threat actor movements
• Most targeted industry sectors, identifying the industries under the heaviest volume of attacks
• Most popular initial access methods, including phishing, external remote services (like VPN, RDP, etc.), CVE/ zero-day exploitation, SQL injection and more
• Most popular ransomware variants, outlining the threat actor groups that have been most aggressive
• Recommendations from Kroll experts on how to improve your security posture

The reports also include real-life case studies to help security and risk leaders “see” how incidents can play out and understand how Kroll responds to incidents.